Firefighters continue tackling forest fire in Slovakia

BRATISLAVA, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Firefighters continued tackling a forest fire in the Sulov Rocks mountain range in northwestern Slovakia on Sunday, Slovak Fire and Rescue Corps Presidium (HaZZ) spokesperson Zuzana Gegussova said, according to the News Agency of the Slovak Republic (TASR).

Members of HaZZ from Zilina, Bytca, Martin and Cadca are responding at the scene, along with members of the HaZZ Rescue Brigade in Zilina and volunteers from the fire brigades of several municipalities.

"On Saturday, 31 HaZZ members and 47 volunteer firefighters were deployed to contain the fire. They are using a pond system that ensures a sufficient water supply and its effective transport when dealing with large-scale fires in difficult-to-access terrain," said Gegussova.

According to her, aerial equipment continues to be deployed to combat the fire. On Sunday, a Black Hawk UH-60A helicopter operated by Heli Company and a UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter owned by the Slovak Armed Forces' Air Force are carrying out aerial firefighting operations.

The forest fire broke out on Friday afternoon. The firefighting efforts have been significantly hampered by extremely challenging and inaccessible terrain. ■