News - The media got to work: a report from Dilijan, far from the fire.

On the Dilijan Plaza last evening I learned from several rescuers that the forest fire had already been extinguished. They had descended into the town and were constantly receiving calls from relatives: a short while earlier it was reported that a rescue vehicle had crashed, four people were injured, one died. Their colleagues from the mountains were calling as well: "Don't worry, which living creature will find you—the bears are already asleep, fine, we'll send a quadcopter after you." By morning there were no firefighting units patrolling the city, and helicopters were no longer bringing water from the lake. In Dilijan, unlike on Facebook, there was no panic. "I read on social networks that the forests burned. As you can see, it isn't so," joked one of the taxi drivers. The Dilijan fire in the media was linked to outbreaks in other regions of Armenia, although those were separate foci. In the Chambarak–Ttužur area the fire began on November 21. In Dilijan, fires broke out in the areas adjacent to the "Kazachi" and "Lernayin Hayastan" sanatoria and in some forested patches near the switchbacks. There were separate foci in Tavush, Gegharkunik, Lori, Syunik, Kotayk and Aragatsotn. Most of them were quickly isolated and extinguished. About 2,000 rescuers participated in the firefighting. Social networks circulated various theories about the causes. People blamed the government, the Turks, farmers burning dry grass and climate change. Dilijan environmental activists also accused the "loggers" and the "forest burners"—those they had been fighting even before the fire. Dilijan / 22.11 / according to a Ministry of Environment press release / 23.11 Three employees of the Dilijan National Park told us what happened in the last days. — The fire started not in the forest but in the grasslands and meadows above the park's boundary, in the Semionovka area. In places where the wind is unfavourable, the fire spread toward the forest. It burned along the park boundary and, here and there, penetrated inside. — This November is very dry; there was no precipitation, and the weather was warmer than usual. When the soil is wet, vegetation does not catch as quickly. — I have been a fire-engine driver. We came to refill water again, and in the meantime the wind was turning the fire back. Those areas cannot all be climbed. We go up with special equipment, but when we descend we lose pressure due to fluctuations. The most work was done by the National Park staff and the rescuers. We simply had no time to take selfies to show everyone. — People from the forest were calling, those who don’t walk in rugged terrain, saying, "Let us come and help." Do we extinguish the fire now, or hand it over to you? Besides that, it was already a difficult situation; one of the rescuers fell into the flames and was burned, we barely pulled him out. One of our staff members was burned as well. — Whoever writes anything during this time— that the Turks funded the Civil Contract party to burn the forests, or that forest poachers set the fires. But in those areas there are neither loggers nor other people. The issue of logging has nothing to do with this fire. — Don’t blame you, but the media did its dirty work. From the Rescue Service’s statement Gor Hovhannisyans, founder of the House of the Nature Protector organization, which volunteers in Dilijan, writes: "Today I’ve been pressed for interviews three times, and in all of them there was one main aim: to get me to say that this was done by God, that this was an order, and so on. Of course I don’t rule that out, but I don’t rule out many other, more plausible hypotheses; spontaneous ignitions in nature also occur. And it’s not true that Turks gave 1.5 million to the Civil Contract to burn Dilijan’s forests." The Interior Ministry does not say what caused the outbreaks. It is not ruled out that they are natural. Nevertheless, the ministry and the environmental inspectorate urge not to burn dry grasses, plant residues and leaves when clearing pastures and fields. They note that administrative fines range from 50,000 to 300,000 drams. The inspectorate has recorded about a thousand cases of burning leaves, brush and ground-cover residues in recent days. In many Armenian villages there is still smoke as people burn dried grass, calling it sanitary work. This action makes no sense: burning harms both soil and people and creates fire danger everywhere. From the Rescue Service’s report The Dilijan National Park staff also spoke about dried trees: "They must be cleared so they don’t fall and injure others. They also burn easily. If we cut this dried tree now, they’ll come, take photos, and write that park staff are logging." According to officials, the National Park differs from forestry enterprises: the rules are stricter, supervision stronger, and only dry wood collection is permitted "according to procedure, with a special permit and in designated places." But Dilijan’s conservationists insist that illegal logging does not stop here. "The fire was extinguished in one or two active days; roughly 300 healthy trees burned, and everyone cries out, ‘wow.’ But this year in Tavush about 1,000 trees have been cut and stolen. Our forest resources are mercilessly looted," writes Gor Hovhannisan.