Georgia’s Defence Ministry sends reservists to combat Borjomi forest fire

The Georgian Ministry of Defence on Thursday sent additional 100 servicemembers to the  central-western Borjomi municipality to combat the blaze that erupted last Friday, with the unit joining more than 1,200 professionals from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure, the Ministry of Environment and the Defence Forces. 

The company-sized unit of the 102nd Battalion of the territorial reserve of the National Guard’s 10th Cadre Brigade has been instructed to work on containing fire sources and monitoring and patrolling designated locations in the area affected by the fire, said the Ministry. 

To stress the qualification and readiness of the company in similar operations, the Ministry said they had undergone special emergency response training as part of the Substantial NATO-Georgia Package with the help of the Danish military and National Guard instructors. 

The reservists have arrived in Borjomi municipality earlier today. Video: the Ministry of Defence of Georgia. 

The company is also equipped with crisis response equipment provided by the Danish side”, said the Defence Ministry. 

In a move marking international assistance to Georgian state bodies, three specialised Turkish firefighting aircraft joined efforts to extinguish the blaze this week.

Equipped with eight-ton tanks for fire extinguishing material, the aircraft are being utilised by their crew on sectors of the fire in the municipality, with four helicopters of the Georgian border police also involved.

In his comments on Wednesday, Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomemauri thanked Turkey for providing the support, and also extended gratitude to Azerbaijan and Armenia for offering equipment.

Gomelauri said Georgian authorities had necessary equipment but the blaze was “still difficult to reach” in several locations, adding roadworks were ongoing to pave access to them. 

The Minister also noted the role of weather in the professionals’ task of localising the fire, as helicopters were unable to operate in wind. He added the area of the fire had not crossed the “red zone” and posed “no threats” to adjacent populated areas.