Azerbaijan assists Georgia in fight against new forest fires

By Azernews

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan assists Georgia in extinguishing fire in Abastumani forest. Currently, more than 1,000 people on the ground are fighting against the forest fires.

The fire at the resort of Abastumani began on August 29. On the same day, about 500 people and a helicopter were involved in the fire fighting. Their work is complicated by the terrain and dense forest. Georgia requested international assistance in the elimination of the fire.

Two Georgian helicopters, one helicopter from Azerbaijan, one from Turkey and one Ukrainian airplane are engaged in the operations to eliminate the forest fires.

It is expected that today another Turkish helicopter and a plane, as well as a helicopter from Iran, will arrive in the country to extinguish the fire.

Georgian Interior Minister Georgy Mgebrishvili told reporters that the fire in the Abastumani forest would be eliminated much faster than in Tsagveri.

Earlier, a fire broke out in Borjomi-Kharagauli forest near the village of Daba. The country was able to extinguish the forest fires only after six days. The territory with an area of more than 100 hectares was burnt, according to preliminary data. A number of neighboring countries, including Azerbaijan and Turkey, helped to extinguish the fire of Georgia.

After the fires were localized in Borjomi-Kharagauli forest, new fires broke out in two regions of Georgia - Kakheti and Samtskhe-Javakheti. The Azerbaijani side again sent assistance for their extinguishment.