Tirana called on Greece’s emergency services for help on August 3 as wildfires raged out of control in several parts of the country. 

Albania, along with fellow Western Balkan states Croatia and Montenegro, has been hit by massive wildfires in the last few weeks, made worse by the heatwave and dry weather in the region. 

As the situation worsened on August 3, approaching both the capital Tirana and Llogara National Park in the country’s southwest, the authorities were forced to seek help from neighbouring Greece.

Albanian firefighters were backed up by the army, with 360 army officers joining the efforts to bring fires under control in the Tirana, Vlora and Elbasan districts on August 3, the defence ministry said. 

Even though 70% of the fires are under control, the situation is still a source of great concern.

100 hectares of land were burned by the fires in the central Elbasan region, the deputy mayor of the city, Klevis Xhoxhi, was cited as saying by Albanian Daily News.

As the situation reached a critical point, the Albanian foreign ministry asked Greece for logistical support, to which the Greek authorities responded positively.

Two firefighting planes were set to depart from Corfu island to Albania to help local firefighters to extinguish the fires.

The national civil emergency directorate has appealed to local citizens to report immediately any signs of fires to avoid major damage.