Thursday, August 15 2019 12:23

ArmInfo.Compared to last year, the number of fires increased by 83.9% in Armenia. RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, commenting on a large fire that covered the  juniper forest of Arevik National Park announced this at a government  meeting on August 15.

According to the head of government, fires mainly cover grass. The  prime minister again called the people to responsibility, pointing  out the problematic nature of this issue. "Often people leave  bottles, garbage, which also becomes a source of fire. In some cases,  we are dealing with malicious acts, in this regard, the RA Police  must take the necessary measures in this direction," Nikol Pashinyan  noted.

In turn, the Minister of Emergency Situations of the Republic of  Armenia Feliks Tsolakyan said that at the moment, 2 hectares of  juniper forests in the area of Lehvaz settlement are currently on  fire. Prior to this, it was possible to localize fires on 16  hectares. The problem, according to the minister, is also due to  climatic factors - the established hot weather and the possibility of  winds. However, as the head of the Ministry of Emergencies noted,  winds in this region are not expected in the near future. Departments  of the Ministry are taking all necessary steps to localize and  extinguish fires. "However, after extinguishing 15 outbreaks, 10 new  ones appear," Feliks Tsolakyan said. 

It should be noted that the fire that began on August 11 in the  Arevik National Park (the natural reserve is located in the south of  Armenia, in Armenian-Iranian border zone), has been localized.  However, the threat of a forest fire still exists. According to  preliminary data, fires are located in hard-to-reach areas, juniper  and spruce forests are burning. Trees are estimated at 300-400 or  more years. Juniper grows for a long time.  A meter of a tree grows  in 100 years.  Director of the park Gagik Gevorgyan informed that at  night the forces of firefighters, rescuers, police were mobilized,  caterpillar equipment was also thrown to the aid of the National Park  staff. The fire by the morning of today was localized. In general, a  fire covered 12 hectares of territories, of which 4 hectares is the  juniper forest of Arevik National Park.