Twelve fires put out in Far East in past 24 hours, at least ten keep burning
KHABAROVSK. Aug 26 (Interfax) - Twenty-one wildfires have broken out in the Russian Far East in the past 24 hours and twelve of them have been extinguished, the district department of the Federal Forestry Agency (Rosleskhoz) said on Tuesday.
"Twenty-one fires were raging across the Far East yesterday, including ten in the Amur region, six in Yakutia, three in the Khabarovsk territory and two in the Sakhalin region. Firemen have put out twelve fires," the report said.
According to the press service, the flames spread across 280 hectares over the past day, practically all of them in the Amur region. Fires were burning on 2,576 hectares the day before. Hence, the wildfire area has dipped 9.2 times.
The Far Eastern Federal District assigned 350 men, 40 fire engines, three planes and one helicopter on the firefighting mission.
As of Tuesday morning, the district saw nine wildfires, including four in the Amur region, two in Yakutia, two in the Khabarovsk territory and one in Sakhalin.
A total of 2,175 fires have occurred on more than 1.7 million hectares in the Far East this year, as against 1,000 wildfires on over 785.000 hectares a year ago.
