Battle resumes to extinguish wildfire in Armenia’s Syunik

Panorama, Armenia
Aug 15 2019

Firefighters have today resumed a battle to put out a major wildfire in a forest in Armenia’s Syunik Province, authorities said.

The fire erupted in the forest near Lehvaz-Vardanidzor highway on Sunday, August 11, to advance to the Arevik National Park.

The wildfire had destroyed around 12 hectares of vegetated area and wooded land, namely juniper and fir trees, before being contained on Monday morning.

There are around 25 smoking hotspots at the moment, the Ministry of Emergency situations said in a statement on Thursday.

The ministry said a total of 67 rescuers, 30 soldiers from a Meghri military unit, 45 police officers, 25 members of the Hayantar SNCO of Syunik, 15 members of the Zangezur Biosphere Complex and 15 members of the Arevik National Park joined the firefighting efforts.

A special task force has been set up to deal with the emergency.