Hundreds of firefighters, forestry workers, and civilians battled a massive wildfire in central Armenia for the fourth consecutive day on September 6, Asbarez reports.
The fire raged in a partly wooded area near Byurakan, a village 35 kilometers northwest of Yerevan. It is located on the southern slope of Mount Aragats, the highest in the country.
Residents of Byurakan and nearby communities as well as more than a hundred soldiers and a military helicopter joined the firefighting efforts this week. As was the case during two other major wildfires that erupted in other parts of the country last month, rocky terrain made it practically impossible for the Armenian Ministry of Emergency Situations to deploy heavy fire engines near the blaze.
Thick plumes of white smoke continued to rise above the burning pastures, trees, and bushes around Byurakan on Wednesday afternoon.
“We have modern fire engines but they can’t approach such terrain,” complained the head of the ministry’s Civil Defense Department, Artak Nahapetian. He said his emergency teams are only able to use some of their outdated Soviet-made machinery.
