Russian Emergency Situations Ministry helicopter helps contain critical forest fire in Serbia
MOSCOW. Aug 14 (Interfax) - A Mi-8 helicopter of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry has dropped over 40 tonnes of water on forest fires in Serbia over the past two days, the ministry said in a report.
"A critical situation took place near the city of Bor on August 11, as forest fires covered over 300 hectares of territory on Mount Crni-Vrh. A Mi-8 helicopter of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry was dispatched to the emergency scene. The helicopter crew fought the fire until dark, coordinating their actions with the ground units of the local fire services. The work was continued the next day as well. The Emergency Situations Ministry helicopter dumped more than 40 tonnes of water on the fire sites over this time. The local services concluded that about 80% of fire sites were contained owing to the operations of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry's Mi-8 helicopter," the ministry said on Monday.
Vladimir Seryshev, the captain of the helicopter crew, mentioned some circumstances that complicated the work in the mountainous area.
"We dropped water four times, three tonnes each time, which significantly reduced the fire intensity and prevented it from spreading onto new areas. The next morning, we also flew to the emergency scene and made nine targeted drops on fire sites. The work was complicated by strong and gusting winds, but we completed our mission owing to good interaction with the ground fire units," he said.
The Mi-8 arrived in Serbia on August 2 to help fight forest fires as part of the Russian-Serbian humanitarian center, in keeping with a request from the Serbian government and under directives from the Russian government.
