Georgia’s Emergency Service calls for “high caution” to prevent fires amid heat
The Georgian Emergency Management Service said on Wednesday that high temperatures were forecast in the country until next Monday. Photo: Defence Ministry press office
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The Emergency Management Service of Georgia on Wednesday called on the public to “act cautiously” to prevent fires breaking out in the country, citing the National Environment Agency as saying hot and dry weather, as well as strong winds, were forecast across the country until next Monday.
The warning comes on the heels of the still raging foreign fire in the central-western Borjomi municipality of Georgia, with more than 1,200 professionals combating the blaze that erupted last Friday using five helicopters and over 120 fire engines.
In an attempt to draw the public’s attention to prevention of further fires, the agency called for “high civic responsibility”, urging citizens to refrain from starting fires on agricultural lands, near forests or fields, leaving unattended sources of fire and polluting the environment with flammable household waste.
Four helicopters of the Georgian Border Police are used to combat fires in Borjomi municipality. Photo: Defence Ministry press office.
To react to possible incidents in a timely manner, the agency has also requested the public to use the hotline of the Public Safety Management Centre of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, on the emergency number 112, in case of noticing smoke in their vicinity.
In a move marking international assistance to Georgian state bodies, a specialised Turkish firefighting aircraft joined efforts to extinguish the forest fire in Borjomi municipality on Wednesday.
The Interior Ministry said the aircraft, equipped with an eight-ton tank for fire extinguishing material, was being utilised by its crew on sectors of the fire in the municipality, with two more specialised aircraft expected to join the work on later today.
Professionals of various departments of the domestic Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure and Ministry of Environment and Agriculture are also involved in combating the fire.