Wildfire breaks out near Akhaltsikhe, southern Georgia
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UPDATED: 12:26
The forest fire near the village of Sviri in the Akhaltsikhe municipality in southern Georgia has been localised, Interior Minister Giorgi Mgebrishvili says.
He added that now firefighters are working to liquidate it.
Mgebrishvili said that the threat of the fire spreading has been removed.
EARLIER: 11:45
A fire erupted over about 0.5 hectares of forest lands on a mountain near the village of Sviri in the Akhaltsikhe municipality in southern Georgia yesterday evening.
Interior Minister Giorgi Mgebrishvili, who is at the site, said that up to 170 firefighters and rangers are fighting the blaze in the forest, which is hard to walk in.
Since it is difficult to approach the fire pockets by foot due to lack of roads in the forest, aerial resources have been brought into the fire extinguishing efforts.
Mgebrishvili said that a helicopter of the Ministry of Internal Affairs has been working to localise the fire since 7 a.m. this morning. An artificial water basin has been made last night near the village for the helicopter to fill its tanks.
The cause of the fire is not yet known.
Meanwhile, a massive forest fire in south-central Georgia’s Borjomi Gorge burnt for seven days before being fully extinguished yesterday.
The forest fire in Georgia’s Borjomi Gorge has been extinguished and firefighting crews from neighbouring countries are leaving the gorge.
A Georgian border police helicopter made an emergency landing while filling the reservoir in Borjomi Gorge this morning.
Interior Ministry said the pilot did his best to land on the water in such a way as to avoid casualties.
A massive forest fire that broke out a week ago in Georgia’s Borjomi Gorge has been extinguished, but the special headquarters that was set up upon the Prime Minister’s order to handle the disaster remains in the gorge to follow the developments.
The Georgian Armed Forces have joined firefighting efforts in Georgia’s Borjomi Gorge where a massive forest fire broke out five days ago and is still burning.
A fire erupted today at the forest near Abastumani, a small town and climatic spa in Georgia’s Samtskhe-Javakheti region. Georgia’s Emergency Situations Agency reported, manpower and all necessary technique are already mobilised at the scene.
UPDATED: Ukraine will send a firefighting aircraft to help Georgia fight a forest fire that broke out yesterday near Abastumani, a small town and climatic spa in Georgia’s Samtskhe-Javakheti region.
UPDATED: The forest fire near the town of Abastumani in southern Georgia have been localised, says Interior Minister Giorgi Mgebrishvili. Works are underway to liquidate it, he adds. Helicopters and aircraft no longer needed at the scene.
About 200 hectares of forests have been burnt during the Borjomi Gorge fire that lasted seven days, the Prime Minister says.
A fire has broken out on the Kokhta mountain in Georgia’s eastern region of Kakheti today. Two Iranian helicopters will assist the Georgia Emergency Service to extinguish the fire.
Abastumani observatory, located in the Samtskhe Javakheti region of Georgia with an 87-year history, will be officially separated from Ilia State University next month and become an independent legal entity, a Government of Georgia decree reads.