11:53 01.08.2019

Wildfires spread on over 3 mln hectares in Russia

2 min read
Wildfires spread on over 3 mln hectares in Russia

The number of wildfires burning in Russia has grown by 18 over the day despite urgent firefighting measures.

The fires are currently raging on over 3 million hectares.

"A total of 29 wildfires were put out on 404 hectares in Russia over the day. As of 12:00 a.m. Moscow time on August 1, Russia saw 165 wildfires on 116,089 hectares, and energetic firefighting efforts continued," a representative of Avialesokhrana told Interfax on Thursday.

According to a statement posted on the agency's website, most fires were reported from the Irkutsk region, which is fighting 67 forest fires on 83,832 hectares. The fire area grew by 5,000 hectares over the day.

Sixty fires are being fought on 24,328 hectares in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, and 20 on 1,431 hectares in Yakutia.

The effort involves 2,848 men and 420 vehicles. Twenty-seven aircraft provide aerial monitoring, and 21 help put out the blaze, according to Avialesokhrana.

The size of fires, which are not being extinguished on orders from regional emergency situations commissions due to their remoteness and difficulty to access, has not reduced, either.

The wildfire emergency has been declared throughout the Irkutsk region and the Krasnoyarsk Territory, as well as in one municipality of Buryatia, and one municipality of Yakutia.

President Vladimir Putin ordered the Defense Ministry to join the firefighting effort on July 31. The ministry set up a team of ten Ilyushin Il-76 planes and ten Mil Mi-8 helicopters to help fight wildfires in the Krasnoyarsk Territory.

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