All news

Numbers and areas of wildfires rise sharply in Siberia

The area of spreading fires increased from 345.5 hectares to 352.5 ha by this morning

KRASNOYARSK, October 1 (Itar-Tass) — The number of wildfires has risen from two to 17 in the past 24 hours in Siberia. The area of spreading fires increased from 345.5 hectares to 352.5 ha by this morning. Out of the total, eight seats of fire over an area of 230 hectares were localised, Itar-Tass learnt on Saturday from press service head of the Siberian centre of the Ministry for Emergencies Olesya Yenina.

On Friday, rescuers spotted 39 new bursts of flames in forests with an area of 454.3 hectares. They put out 22 seats of fire over 101.8 ha during the daylight. “It was possible to put out completely fires in the Altai Territory, the Kemerovo, Novosibirsk and Omsk regions as well as in the Buryatia and Tuva republics.

However, rescuers could not fully cope with new fires in the Trans-Baikal and Krasnoyarsk territories, as well as the Irkutsk and Tomsk regions; and forests continue burning there. A total of 701 people and 202 units of machinery are involved in extinguishing fires and preventive measures,” Yenina noted.

Units of the Avialesookhrana air agency patrolled forests in the Trans-Baikal and Krasnoyarsk territories, the Buryatia, Tuva and Khakassia republics as well as in the Irkutsk Region. They were jointed by aviation of the Siberian centre of the Ministry for Emergencies, that conducted reconnaissance and delivery of civil paratroopers to seats of fire.

Officers of police and administrations of villages call rallies, giving explanations and instructions on rules of behaviour in forests and on fire safety. Besides, they carried out 119 raids to find out cases of violations of fire safety in forests. A total of 638 posts were put up to limit the access to forests and monitoring.