Russian Emergencies Ministry’s aircraft begins fighting wildfire in Armenia

YEREVAN, August 15. /TASS/. The Russian Emergencies Ministry’s Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft has begun fighting a wildfire affecting the Khosrov Forest national park located in Armenia’s Ararat region, a source in the Armenia Emergencies Ministry told TASS. "The Russian Il-76 aircraft has already started to fight the fire on the Khosrov Forest national park’s territory, it has dropped more than 42 tonnes of water on the fire, the work continues," the source said. As many as ten hot spots of fire have been recorded in the national park. The Il-76 crew has been tasked to contain the fire and prevent its spreading. The crew members are trained to operate in difficult circumstances and have a vast experience in fighting forest fires as they have many times participated in firefighting activities in Russia and aboard. The Il-76 aircraft arrived in Armenia on August 14 upon the request of the country’s government. The aircraft is considered one of the largest aircraft used to combat fires. The aircraft is capable of dropping 42 tonnes of water on a fire site at a time, creating a water line 800 meters long and 60 meters wide, totaling around 50,000 square meters. On August 12, a large wildfire broke out in the Khosrov Forest national park, located 61 kilometers away from Yerevan. The fire has covered an area of hundreds of hectares. Read more