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Number of forest fires in Russia decreased by 60% over past 24 hours

The fire hazard situation has emerged in 81 constituent entities of the Russian Federation

MOSCOW, May 29. /TASS/.The number of forest fires in Russia has decreased by more than 60% over the past 24 hours to 33 hot spots, Russian Federal Forestry Agency’s Aerial Forest Fire Center (Avialesookhrana) reported on Sunday.

"A total of 50 forest fires at a total area of 9,600 hectares have been extinguished in Russia over the past day. The fire-fighting efforts involved 1,783 people, 246 pieces of equipment and 7 aircraft. The fire affected an area of 1,271 hectares, including 881 hectares of forestland during the day," the report says.

According to Avialesookhrana, "as of 00:00, Moscow time on May 29, there were 33 forest fires at total area of ·· 20,153 hectares in Russia’s territory."

The fire hazard situation has emerged in 81 constituent entities of the Russian Federation. A state of emergency has been introduced in three regions: in the Amur region, in Buryatia and in the Trans-Baikal Territory. A special fire prevention regime has been declared in 39 regions.

The Forestry Department of the Far Eastern Federal District told TASS on Friday that "as of the morning of May 27, there were 14 active fires in the district: nine - in the Amur region, three - in the Khabarovsk Territory and two - in the Kamchatka Territory, 14 fire seats were liquidated over the past day," the department said.

According to the Aerial Forest Fire Center, the area of ··forest fires in the Amur region, where in early May residents of three villages lost their homes due to the spread of grassland fires, has decreased from 87,100 to 9,800 hectares. The press service of the regional main emergencies department added that no grassland fires have been registered in the Amur Region on May 26, and, according to the Vladivostok branch of the National Emergency Management Center, only one thermal anomaly was recorded in the region.

The improvement of the situation is not a reason to relax, so a state of emergency is still in effect in Buryatia, in the Trans-Baikal Territory and in the Amur region, and special exercises to drill putting out a simulated fire outbreak and evacuate people have been initiated for personnel at the Vostochny cosmodrome in the Amur region.

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