KRASNOYARSK, July 29./TASS/. The area of wildfires in Russia’s Siberian Krasnoyarsk region has grown to 1.030 million hectares, increasing by 4.5% within half-a-day. The absolute majority of the fires hit remote areas, the regional center for wild fires says in a report.
"According to updated reports, as of 23:00 (19:00 Moscow time) of July 29, 2019, 104 wildfires are raging in the region, affecting an area of 1.030 million hectares," the report said. The area hit by the blaze was 986,000 hectares at 5am Moscow time on Monday.
Most wildfires are reported in hard-of-access areas, where the cost of putting out the blaze exceeds the cost of a possible damage, so efforts to put out wilfires are taken only if the fire puts at risk local settlements or infrastructure facilities.
A state of emergency stays in place in the region, access to the forests is restricted. The wildfires are reported amid the absence of rain with the temperatures reaching plus 30 degrees Celsius. Gusts of wind and dry thunderstorms worsen the situation.