Hunan Poghosyan Calls Emergency Consultation Regarding Unprecedented Fires in Syunik Region

The Governor of Syunik, Hunan Poghosyan, convened an emergency consultation on August 24th at the marzpetaran in light of the unprecedented fires in the region. This was reported by the press service of the Syunik Governor's Office.

“On August 24th at 10:00 PM, Syunik Governor Hunan Poghosyan held an emergency consultation at the governor's office. The occasion was the major fires that broke out in three locations in the region, particularly in Kapan, starting from August 22nd near the village of Norashenik and extending into areas of the villages of Chapni and Kaghniut on August 24th.

Participants in the consultation included the governor's advisor Gor Tadevosyan, Kapan community leader Gevorg Pasyan, the director of the “Hayantar” State Non-Commercial Organization, Areg Karapetyan, the head of the Syunik regional rescue department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Colonel Bagrat Zakaryan, the commander of military unit N stationed in Kapan, Colonel A. Poghosyan, and Sasun Manukyan, director of Hayantar's Kapan branch, along with local community and emergency services staff.

Throughout the day yesterday, all mentioned entities, as well as staff from the Zangezur consortium and Kapan municipal services, along with emergency medical services and local residents, were engaged in firefighting efforts. The Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine provided three fire engines of the “Belaz” model, three fire trucks from Kamaz, three loading trucks, and two evacuators. The governor of Syunik was on-site all day at the hotspots, ultimately preventing the fire from entering residential areas. By the evening, they succeeded in containing the blaze, with employees of Hayantar on duty overnight. However, smoldering hotspots were still present in all areas, and it was anticipated that the flames would flare up again with the break of dawn, necessitating a discussion and organization of actions for today, August 25th.

Hunan Poghosyan expressed his gratitude to all organizations and their leaders that are involved in these efforts. During the consultation, questions regarding the organization of work that was to commence early today were discussed, clarifying what human, technical, transportation, water, and tool resources collaborating organizations have and how to efficiently deploy them across various points.

As of 6:30 AM today, operations have already resumed in the designated areas, according to the organized plan.

It is noteworthy that Deputy Minister of Emergency Situations Arkadi Balayan has also visited Kapan to coordinate firefighting operations, along with Deputy Director of the Rescue Service, Colonel Artavazd Davtyan, and four employees from the Armenian-Russian Humanitarian Response Center.

The meeting also addressed the human factors contributing to the ongoing large-scale fires in the region, the unsuccessful formation of safe behavior among the population, and the importance of law enforcement uncovering the causes behind these incidents,” the statement reads.