PM sends Defence Forces to join firefighting in eastern Kvareli municipality

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Friday instructed the country’s Defence Forces to join professionals combating forest fires in the eastern Kvareli municipality, the Government Administration said.  

GDF troops will join crews working to put out the fires that erupted near the village of Shilda earlier today, with the move to send the military to the area aimed at preventing further spread of the blaze and a possible natural disaster. 

Media reports said deciduous trees were burning in the municipality near the locality’s alpine zone.

• Georgia’s Emergency Service calls for “high caution” to prevent fires amid heat

Defence Forces were also involved in work to localise and eliminate forest fires in the central-western Borjomi municipality earlier this month, following the PM’s decision.