ArmInfo.The Ministry of Emergency Situations of Armenia was not late with a request for assistance in the work on extinguishing a fire in the Khosrov forest of EMERCOM of Russia and acted adequately the situation. This was stated by the head of the department David Tonoyan on August 24 during a briefing, answering the question why Russian colleagues were involved in fire fighting only on the third day of the fire.
According to David Tonoyan, the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Armenia reacted immediately, the environmental programs were also implemented adequately. "To this day, employees of the Ministry of Nature Protection are working on the reserve's territory, rescuers are struggling to save every plant and tree," he said.
Answering the question why the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Armenia did not previously apply to the EMERCOM of Russia for the Il-76 plane, Tonoyan noted: "They did not apply earlier, because the situation assessment did not allow for such a plane, but when the fire swept the forest, But not the grass cover, we immediately appealed to the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation."
The head of the Armenian Ministry of Emergency Situations urged not to forget that, in military terms, they acted on two fronts." "Two days in a row, the work was carried out both in the Khosrov Forest and forests near the Artavan village in the Vayots Dzor region of Armenia. Of course, the available technical means - all-terrain vehicles and helicopters provided to the aircraft, did not allow to react accordingly. There were also difficulties due to the difficult terrain and strong wind. Some conclusions and proposals have been made in the direction of increasing the equipment of the MoES, which are presented to the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan and Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan," he said.
At the same time, as David Tonoyan noted, in order to increase the equipment of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the government periodically provides funds, assistance is also provided in the framework of international grant programs. For example, as the Minister indicated, Yerevan uses fire trucks that are provided by Japan under the grant program. "This is the situation today, but we are doing everything to improve the level of technical equipment of the department," he said.
To recall, in Armenia, on August 10, violent fires broke out in the forests of Vayots Dzor and a unique Khosrov Reserve in the Ararat region. The fire was extinguished only a week later thanks to the help of Russian aviators and rainy weather. As the Minister of Nature Protection of Armenia Artsvik Minasyan pointed out, 250 hectares were damaged from the total territory of the Khosrov Forest Reserve in 1600 hectares. "The size of the assay will be refined after comparing the data from several sources. We assure that we will not hide anything, there is no such problem," he said. Meanwhile, independent experts say that in reality about 2.5 thousand hectares of forest were burnt. The signal about the fire in the state reserve "Khosrov Forest" in the Rescue Service of the Ministry of Emergency Measures of the Republic of Armenia was received on 12 August at 12:30. And only on August 14, the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Armenia, being unable to fight the fire on its own, had to turn to Russian colleagues for help. On the same day at 19.20 the Il-76 special plane of the Ministry of Emergencies of Russia arrived in Armenia to participate in an operation to extinguish fires that took unprecedented proportions in the mountains of Armenia. In this regard, there were doubts in the society about the adequacy of the actions of the Ministry of Emergency Measures and the Ministry of Nature Protection.
ArmInfo. Early in the morning on August 15, the Minister of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Armenia David Tonoyan together with Russian specialists made a reconnaissance flight, during which foci of fires were identified with the aim of their localization, the RA Ministry of Emergency Situations press service reported.According to the source, the plane EMERCOM of Russia IL-76 today at 08.50 performed the first flight. It is envisaged to make 2 sorties to extinguish fires that have enveloped a number of regions of Armenia.
ArmInfo. EMERCOM of Russia will assist Armenian colleagues in extinguishing a major fire in the state reserve "Khosrov Forest" and sends an IL-76 for this purpose. This was reported by the press service of the ministry."In accordance with the request of the Government of the Republic of Armenia, the Government of the Russian Federation instructed the EMERCOM of Russia to send an Il-76 jet equipped with jet aircraft to Yerevan to extinguish forest fires on the territory of the Khosrov Forest," the spokesman said.
ArmInfo. Minister of Emergency Situations of Armenia David Tonoyan appealed to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Puchkov for help to provide a helicopter to extinguish a forest fire in the Khosrov Reserve of Armenia. Meanwhile, rescuers continue work on putting out a fire in the reserve, where from 200 to 250 liters of grass and woodland on the "Winter" and adjacent territories from 12:30 on Saturday.
ArmInfo.On July 24, Minister of Emergency Situations of Armenia David Tonoyan held an extended meeting with the staff of the Seismic Protection Service and the heads and staff of the SNCO, the press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Armenia reported.
ArmInfo.The issue of combining the Ministry of Emergency Situations with the Police is not yet on the agenda. The Minister of Emergency Situations of Armenia David Tonoyan stated this on June 30 in a conversation with journalists in the Armenian parliament, answering the question for whom such a ministry is being created.