Vakhtang Gomelauri arrived in Borjomi Municipality to familiarize himself with the situation.
Gomelauri, along with the Ministers of Defense Juansher Burchuladze and Environment Protection and Agriculture Otar Hamugia, inspected and attended the meeting at the operational management headquarters.
“Not all fire sources have been localized yet.” They are being worked upon. Yesterday, it was windy and a localized fire that had been almost extinguished re-ignited and spread to another hill. We still have active and small fire sources.
“There are over 1,200 people total, including representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Environment Protection. There are 120-110 units mobilized, including heavy equipment and tractors that work to lay the roads for people to get to the affected areas.
“The employees of Ministry of Internal Affairs and Defense were deployed. However, if there is no water, the arrival of personnel will not be able to extinguish a fire. Therefore, equipment is working on building roads so that the water can reach its target.
“The wind is the danger.” We will continue to work at night if there is no wind. The situation will improve tomorrow. If the wind picks-up, the fire could spread to a larger area.
“We have contained the fire spreading to the villages. Vehicles are mobilized to prevent the fire from moving towards the villages. It is possible that a strong wind will cause more fire to spread than it does now. If the wind doesn’t pick up, tomorrow we will have fewer fire spots.
“We called the helicopter when it was necessary.” Yesterday, the weather was such that they could only pour four times and then there was so much wind that helicopters couldn’t fly. On the first day they didn’t think it was necessary, so they started working. But the wind blew and spread the flames. There are no rules about when the helicopter should or shouldn’t be used. This is true everywhere, not just in this country. They called for a helicopter when they thought it was necessary and found it difficult to locate the fire. They were able to get a few shots but the wind was so strong that we could not bring the rest.
“I want to stress one aspect about the helicopter. Don’t think that everything will be over if the helicopter flies in and pours the water. We poured water on the ground and dug about 30 cm deep, but the fire was still there without the physical work of people. Gomelauri said that the main fire source may be treated with water but if you do not go down to treat it manually, it can re-ignite within an hour.
The fire extinguishing work is ongoing in Borjomi Municipality despite its difficult location. According to the instructions of Prime minister Irakli Garibashvili the employees of relevant services of Ministry of Internal Affairs and Defense, Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure, and Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture, are coordinating their fire extinguishing efforts in Borjomi Municipality.
At the moment 300 firefighters and 300 employees from the Special Tasks Department participate in the fire-fighting activities. Since yesterday and this morning, border police helicopters and fire-rescue vehicles were mobilized. Drones are used to monitor the fire sources. On the site, an operational management headquarters was established.
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