Balgarianovinite.com A fire broke out at an ammunition warehouse at the EMCO military plant near the village of Belitsa, Tryavna Municipality. There have been no fatalities or injuries, Tryavna Mayor Dencho Minev said in a Facebook post. According to him, the fire has been extinguished. All workers were evacuated by buses operated by EMCO Ltd. A task force involving all law enforcement authorities has been set up at the site.
There is currently no evidence of foreign interference, Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev told reporters. The entire warehouse has burned down. No other buildings have been affected. The fire is currently under control, the Interior Minister also said.
“Work is currently underway to extinguish fires that have spread through wooded areas near the site of the incident. The causes of the fire will only be established at a later stage,” he added. The area has been cordoned off and unauthorized persons are not being allowed in. The road at the turnoff for the village of Armyankovtsi has been closed and a checkpoint has been set up, a BTA reporter saw.
Due to smoke and air pollution, authorities urged people to keep the windows of their homes closed, use protective masks and avoid going outdoors. Minev added that a mobile station for monitoring air quality would be installed in the town of Plachkovtsi due to the spread of thick smoke over a wide area.
The Gabrovo regional governor activated the BG-ALERT system because of the fire. Citizens were urged to follow the instructions of Interior Ministry authorities and avoid the area of the incident.
Speaking to reporters in Plovdiv, Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev said that nearby settlements were being evacuated as a precaution. The causes of the incident are being investigated, but they are more likely to be internal, the Minister said. When explosive materials are involved, measures must be taken to protect the lives and health of firefighters as well, he said.
“We want to make sure that, in the event of the fire spreading, no people will be injured and the flames will not spread to other buildings,” the Minister added.
In a later briefing, Minev said the warehouse contained no toxic materials and posed no radiation risk. Residents, mostly elderly, were being evacuated as crews tackled a forest fire that had spread nearly three kilometres from the plant. Protocol required a wait of at least 24 hours to assess the risk of further explosions. The incident began when a truck caught fire, triggering explosions in some warehouses.
EMCO later ruled out human error, saying the incident occurred at about 10:30 a.m. at its storage facility near Tryavna. The company said no forest areas or third-party property were affected, there was no environmental pollution and the cause remained under investigation. EMCO recalled similar incidents at its facilities in 2011, 2022 and 2023 and at other defence manufacturers, including VMZ Sopot in spring 2015, saying the investigations remained stalled. Fire Breaks Out at Ammunition Warehouse at Military Factory near Belitsa; No Casualties Reported 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-08-10 10:58:00 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law