The Abastumani Fire
Fires hit the steep mountainous Abastumani area, Samtskhe-Javakheti region, near the villages Sviri and Korkhi, on Monday, initially destroying three hectares of forest. The Sviri blaze was only put out after a helicopter got involved in extinguishing works on Tuesday morning.
Around 100 firefighters and 170 servicemen of the Interior Ministry were involved in the firefighting in Sviri and remained on site once the fire was brought under control. Late Tuesday night, a new pocket of fire erupted and additional manpower and equipment was sent to Abastumani.
Georgia's Interior Minister, Giorgi Mghebrishvili, said Tuesday that Georgia would address friendly states for assistance if necessary. Russia "would not be among those countries".
On Wednesday, with the blaze still being fought, Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili announced that Azerbaijan had expressed readiness to assist Georgia with a helicopter.
"The fire in Abastumani is not as large-scale as it was in Borjomi...and fire extinguishing works are actively underway. A plane from Ukraine will join us and we will also receive a helicopter from Azerbaijan," the PM said.
Ukraine sent a firefighting aircraft, АН-32П, belonging to the Ukrainian State Emergency Service, following a personal request from the Georgian PM to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Tuesday night.
The same day, the Ambassador of Turkey, Zeki Levent Gumrukcu, stated that Turkey was also ready to assist Georgia with two helicopters and one firefighting aircraft.
“Around 1,000 firefighters, rescuers and rangers are mobilized on the ground,” Mghebrishvili said late Wednesday. “Around 4 to 5 km of new road was cut last night in the woods for special equipment to reach the point of fire. Artificial reservoirs were also arranged for aviation,” he added.
Abastumani is a mountainous resort world-renowned for its mineral springs and thermal baths. It also houses Georgia’s Space Observatory.
At time of going to press, we understand that all major areas of fire in Abastumani have been extinguished.
“We can now say that all the open burning areas have been extinguished,” Minister Mghebrishvili told Imedi reporters. “Aviation and fire crews are working very effectively, with helicopters being given the exact coordinates to drop the water. If weather conditions are good, we could localize the fire by the end of the day.”
Work continued in Abastumani Thursday morning, with aviation equipment from Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Ukraine still involved in the firefighting operation. The exact number of hectares damaged in Georgia’s latest summer blaze has yet to be announced.
The GT Team