Sofia, Bulgaria: Yordanka Fandakova, mayor of Sofia, reported that a few months ago, she and Chief Commissioner Alexander Jartov met the Bulgarian rescue teams involved in the rescue operations after the earthquake in Turkey. Then, the Municipality of Sofia organized and conducted a full-scale field exercise.
Today in the Lyulin district, a full-scale field exercise of the Metropolitan Municipality “Sila 23” was held to adopt the Disaster Protection Plan in its part “Earthquake Action Plan”.
The study involves more than 500 employees from all responsible institutions and 11 private structures, which are mobilized according to plan.
She expressed that the training in Montenegro shows how vital are rapid reaction exercises in the fall of 2022. In it, the rescue teams of Metropolitan Municipality worked on logistics and transport together with the Ministry of Defense and the Military Air Force.
A few months after this organization was tested in the field, it was applied to a real-life situation. Thus, Bulgarian rescue teams were among the first in the world to aid our neighbours in Turkey.
Mayor Fandakova noted that the purpose of the study today is to lose on the field and in full all actions under the Earthquake Action Plan. This will give confidence and a quick reaction to all services when taking action in an actual situation.
The study involves more than 500 people from all responsible institutions and 11 private structures mobilizing according to plan.
Mayor Fandakova appreciated Chief of Defense Admiral Evtimov, the General Directorate of Fire Safety and Population Protection Director, Chief Commissioner Jartov and the Director of Emergency Assistance and Prevention of Krasi Dimitrov, who organized the various services.
In the study, which loses a reaction to an earthquake of 6 on the Richter scale, the participators were teams from the General Directorate of Fire Safety and Population Protection, Sofia Fire Brigade, SDVR, and structures of the Ministry of Defense and Military Medical Academy.
The Bulgarian Red Cross, Mountain Rescuers, the voluntary formations of Sofia and Plovdiv and all directions of the Metropolitan Municipality, and the emergency management teams also participated in this exercise. The Mayor of Sofia thanked everyone and said, “We must be ready for the worst and hope it never happens”!