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Emergency fire regime declared in Siberian region

The regime was imposed by region’s Governor Sergei Yeroshchenko at an emergency session

IRKUTSK, May 18 /ITAR-TASS/. An emergency fire regime has been declared in Priangarye territory of Russia’s Siberian Irkutsk region after major fires have hit two local settlements over the past 24 hours.

The regime was imposed by region’s Governor Sergei Yeroshchenko at an emergency session of the regional commission for emergency situations.

“This is a preventive measure that will make it possible to ban all economic activity in forests and employ additional resources to cope with fires and their aftermaths,” the governor said.

Teams of the emergencies ministry and forestry service staffers patrol local settlements, and a warning system has been brought to readiness. In view of possible unfavourable weather conditions, particular attention is paid to the electricity supply system to rule out fires caused by short-circuit failures.

On Saturday, the emergency fire regime was imposed in the region’s Nizhne-Ilimsk district. Preventive measures were taken against the advance of fire. “However, abrupt wind has worsened the situation. A fire was put out in Zheleznogorsk-Ilimsky, and fight for houses continues in the settlement of Dalny,” the head of the Ministry for Emergency Situations’ Irkutsk region centre, Valentin Nelyubov, said.

A BE-200 amphibious plane has been sent to the Nizhne-Ilimsk district to help put out wildfires. Residents of Dalny settlement are being evacuated to a neighbouring settlement, while specialists assisted by dozens of units of hardware and motor boats combat the blaze. Paratroopers have been sent to the settlement, in addition.

Three houses were destroyed by blaze in the town of Zheleznogorsk-Ilimsky earlier on Sunday. Both fires came due to negligence, in which the fires from agricultural burnings spread to residential houses amid strong winds.

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