New fires in different regions of Georgia
By Tea Mariamidze
Monday, September 4
A fire has hit the village of Khakhabo in Tusheti, Artana, in the Telavi municipality and Shilda in the Kvareli municipality on Saturday. A fire also broke out on the Kokhta Mountain in the Kakheti region.
Two Georgian and two Iranian helicopters are involved in fire-fighting efforts.
Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) stated that the fire in theShilda village has been localized and work is underway to extinguish the blazes at the other locations.
“Dozens of firefighters and rescuers are mobilized at the village of Artana in the Telavi municipality and in the forests of the village of Khakhabo in Tusheti. Because of the difficult situation in both locations, aviation assets have been involved in the works,” the statement of the ministry reads.
Head of the National Forestry Agency Tornike Gvazava said that around 2-3 hectares of land have been burnt in Shilda and Artana.
“The fire has been localized in Shilda but the blaze still remains in Artana,” he added.
Kakheti governor Irakli Kadagishvili said that firefighters had been sent to the fire area in the village of Khakhabo in Tusheti and in the village of Artana, Telavi municipality.
“There are several pockets of fire near Artana, and three helicopters are working there. We transferred manpower above the village too, to prevent fire spreading from the upper side. One helicopter is working in Tusheti too,” he stated.
The forest in village Juta in the Kazbegi municipality also caught fire on Saturday. The Emergency Situations Management Agency reports that firefighters managed to timely extinguish the fire, which was mainly spread on the grass.
“The situation is stable at the moment. No new fire zones are observed. Manpower is working in the localization zones in Kakheti. Two Georgian and two Iranian helicopters are engaged in the efforts,” Emergency Situations Service says.
The Agency also commented on the recent fire in Abasumani, Samtskhe-Javakheti, saying around 50 firefighters remain there to prevent a re-eruption of the fire.
This summer a number of fire outbreaks took place in forests of Georgia. One of the serious cases was the fire outbreak in Borjomi gorge. The law-enforcers said they were looking into all possible causes of fire, after gasoline tanks had been discovered in Borjomi gorge.
