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Firefighters combating wildfires on 266,400 hectares in Russian regions

Around 3,900 people and 472 units of equipment are involved in extinguishing wildfires

© Donat Sorokin/TASS

KHABAROVSK, August 13. /TASS/. Firefighters are combating wildfires on the territory of around 266,400 hectares in Russian regions, the Aerial Forest Protection Service said on Tuesday.

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Wildfires are registered on the territory of over 2.7 million hectares in hard-to-access areas, the service said.

"As of 12am on 13 August 2019, active firefighting efforts are underway to combat 159 wildfires on the territory of 266,393 hectares, including 61 forest fires on the territory of 135,495 hectares in Krasnoyarsk region, 54 forest fires on the territory of 121,629 hectares in Irkutsk region, 14 forest fires on the territory of 1,187 hectares in Yakutia region, 7 forest fires on the territory of 1,153 hectares in Amur region," the service said.

Firefighters are also working on extinguishing wildfires in Buryatia, Chukotka, Kamchatka and Yamalo-Nenets regions. Firefighting efforts are also underway to combat blazes in natural reserves, including on the territory of nearly 3,300 hectares in Irkutsk region, on nearly 1,400 hectares in Khabarovsk region, and on around 1,200 hectares in Buryatia region.

Around 3,900 people and 472 units of equipment are involved in extinguishing wildfires.

In hard-to-access and remote areas, 301 wildfires were registered on August 12 on the territory of over 2.7 million hectares. Those wildfires are not being extinguished because they do not pose a threat to settlements or economy, and costs of firefighting efforts in those areas will exceed the expected damages from the blazes.

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