Dispatched Helitankers Start Work to Contain Wildfire in Iraq

Fire extinguishing equipment dispatched to the Iraqi part of Hour-al Azim Marshes have started their operations to put out the wildfire which is still burning the reeds, a senior official at the Department of Environment said. The work started on Friday, after identifying the exact location of the conflagration, Mehr News Agency quoted Ahmadreza Lahijanzadeh as saying. 
The operation is co-organized by the Khuzestan Governorate, Interior Ministry, Defense Ministry, the Department of Environment and Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps. According to Kiamars Hajizadeh, director of provincial Disaster Management Organization, the operations are in progress while the temperature around the burning area has risen to 50 degrees Celsius and the sky is covered with a thick plume of smoke.