Recent forest fires in the Russian Federation
23 June 2017
Active fires and accumulated locations of the fires (above map) and size of burnt area between 1 March and 23 June 2017 in Irkutsk Region, Russian Far East and Siberia shown on the map (as 23 June 2017, Source: Krasnoyarsk Joint Science Center for Satellite Remote Sensing). The maps are generated daily by the Sukachev Institute of Forest, Remote Sensing Laboratory, Russian Academy of Sciences, Siberian Branch, Krasnoyarsk, Russian Federation. For official information on the status of wildfires in the territory of the Russian Federation see the website of the Federal Forest Service of Russia: http://www.rosleshoz.gov.ru/forest_fires/info
Wildfires in Central-Southern Siberia depicted on 22 June 2017 by MODIS instrument on NASA’s satellite Aqua. Click on the images for downloading the upper high-resolution image and the lower detailed zoom. Source: NASA.
On 23 June 2017 Aqua MODIS acquired this image showing dense smoke plumes spreading northeast toward Yakutsk. Red outlines on each image are active fires detected by MODIS. Click on the image for downloading the upper high-resolution image and the lower detailed zoom. Source: NASA.
Fire Weather Index (FWI) and Drought Code maps for Eurasia for 22 June 2017 generated by the Eurasian Experimental Fire Weather Information System. Note: The components of the Fire Weather Index and the meteorological data below are updated daily at ca. 15:00 GMT/UTC by the Northern Forestry Centre, Canada, and accessible through the GFMC. In the list below the latest maps (including the FWI) can be downloaded. These maps will provide the information at the date of clicking on the link. The Eurasian Experimental Fire Weather Information System can be accessed at:
https://gfmc.online/fwf/eurasia1.htm
Fire Weather Index Components
Meteorological Data
- Fine Fuel Moisture Code (FFMC)
- Precipitation
- Duff Moisture Code (DMC)
- Relative humidity
- Drought Code (DC)
- Temperature
- Initial Spread Index (ISI)
- Wind direction
- Buildup Index (BUI)
- Wind speed
- Fire Weather Index (FWI)
Wildfire Sitrep to GFMC by the Aerial Forest Fire Center Avialesookhrana
On 25 June 2017 89 forest fires, which had affected an area of 7 644 ha, were controlled. A total of 859 fire response ground units and 47 aircraft involved 4 806 firefighters. Today 202 active forest fires are burning on an area of 54 616 ha. Most severely affected are the following regions:
– Republic of Tuva: 23 fires on forest lands covering 24 609 ha
– Irkutsk region: 29 fires on forest lands covering 8 988 ha
– Krasnoyarsk region: 45 fires on forest lands covering 6 659 ha
– Republic of Buryatia:32 fires on forest lands covering 4 853 ha
Recent news from and about fires burning in Russia (including 2016)
- China / UK / Russia: Biologists have explored how testate amoebae survive in peat fires (published by https://eurekalert.org 16 June 2017)
- Kazakhstan: Man killed in wildfire caused by Russian spacecraft launch in Kazakhstan (published by https://www.usnews.com 15 June 2017)
- Russia: Three die in raging Siberian wildfires; Russia investigates possible negligence (published by http://www.japantimes.co.jp 26 May 2017)
- Russia: Raging forest fires swallow up 8,000 hectares in Russia’s Far East and Siberia (published by http://tass.com 25 May 2017)
- Russia: Russia to launch forest fire monitoring satellite on July 14 (published by http://tass.com 18 May 2017)
- Russia: New firefighting foam worth a closer look (published by https://www.firechief.com 17 May 2017)
- Russia: Russian volunteers helping quell wildfires (published by http://www.tol.org 16 May 2017)
- Russia / China: 1,345 Chinese firefighters tackle blaze that spread from Russia (published by http://www.scmp.com 02 May 2017)
- Russia: Meeting on wildfire relief measures in Siberia (published by http://en.kremlin.ru 02 May 2017)
- Russia: Russian village burns to ground in wildfire sparked by trash-burning local (published by https://www.rt.com 29 April 2017)
- Russia: Large wildfires and major flooding as Siberia faces a spring that’s both dry and wet (published by http://siberiantimes.com 21 April 2017)
- Russia: Wildfires increasingly consuming Siberian forests, scientists warn (published by http://www.rferl.org 28 September 2016)
- Russia: Disturbing new pictures show the raging Siberian wildfires that (officially) do not exist (published by http://siberiantimes.com 27 September 2016)
- Russia: People in bratsk petition kremlin over pollution from forest fires (published by http://siberiantimes.com 23 September 2016)
- Russia: Oil pipes threatened by forest fires amid disputes over the scale of destruction (published by http://siberiantimes.com 20 September 2016)
- Russia: Masked attackers beat Greenpeace firefighters in Russia (published by https://www.washingtonpost.com 09 September 2016)
- Russia: ‘Russian hour’ highlights importance of Russian aerial firefighting experience (published by http://www.verticalmag.com 06 September 2016)
- Russia: Firefighting ‘Euro-Squadron’ Idea (published by http://sputniknews.com 30 August 2016)
- Russia: Megafon launches forest fire protection system in Smolensk (published by http://www.telecompaper.com 14 August 2016)
- Russia: Poor Visibility, High Turbulence Behind Il-76 Crash in Siberia (published by http://sputniknews.com 05 August 2016)
- Russia: Siberia’s wildfires seen from 1 million miles away: even the tundra is burning (published by http://siberiantimes.com 23 July 2016)
- Russia: Russian wildfires put key climate resource at risk (published by http://phys.org 22 July 2016)
- Russia: Huge swaths of Russia’s forests are ablaze during what may be a record fire season (published by http://mashable.com 18 July 2016)
- Russia: Il-76 crashed due to sudden collision with the ground (published by http://www.pravdareport.com 05 July 2016)
- Russia: “They saved 1,000s of lives”: Russia mourns crew of firefighter plane that crashed in Siberia (published by https://www.rt.com 04 July 2016)
- Russia/GFMC: Letter of condolence sent to the families of the crew of the IL-76 crashed in Irkutsk Oblast, Siberia, Russia (published by the Global Fire Monitoring Center, 03 July 2016)
- Russia: Additional group of rescuers dispatched to crash site of Ilyushin Il-76 plane of Emergencies Ministry of Russia (published by http://en.mchs.ru 03 July 2016)
- Russia: Russian Firefighting Plane Disappears in Siberia (published by http://abcnews.go.com 1 July 2016)
- Russia: Russian volunteers seek a foothold as wildfires rage in Siberia (published by http://www.nhregister.com 25 June 2016)
- Russia: Almost 16,000 hectares of forest on fire in Russia (published by http://tass.ru 15 June 2016)
- Russia: Animation of satellite images shows smoke from a Russian wildfire getting sucked into a weather system vortex (published by http://blogs.discovermagazine.com 10 June 2016)
- Russia/USA: Russians visit Montana to learn firefighting systems, resources (published by www.greatfallstribune.com 07 June 2016)
- Russia: Wildfires in Russia grow 2% over past 24 hours to over 8,000 hectares (published by http://tass.ru 07 June 2016)
- Russia: Forests on fire: ‘no attempt will be made to extinguish 219 million hectares of burning trees’ (published by http://siberiantimes.com29 May 2016)
- Russia: Number of forest fires in Russia decreased by 60% over past 24 hours (published by http://tass.ru/ 29 May 2016)
- Russia: Wildfires sweep over 11,000 hectares in Trans-Baikal Territory (published by http://tass.ru 11 May 2016)
- Russia: Dozens Of Wildfires Sweep Across Siberia, Russia’s Far East (published by www.rferl.org 05 May 2016)
- Ukraine/Russia: Radioactive Chernobyl forest fires: a ticking time bomb (published by www.greenpeace.org 15 April 2016)
- Russia: Forest fires threaten wipeout for Siberian conifers as deciduous trees take over (Siberian Times, 24 February 2016) (PDF, 0.9 MB)
- Russia: Forests on fire: ‘no attempt will be made to extinguish 219 million hectares of burning trees’ (Siberian Times, 29 May 2016) (PDF, 0.9 MB)
Book Publication on the Use of Prescribed Fire in the Russian Federation (published May 2013)
Background on Wildland Fires in the Russian Federation
- Novosibirsk International Congress on Forest Fire and Climate Change (2013)
- Krasnoyarsk International Fire Management Weeks (2012 and 2013)
- Forest Fire and Smoke Episode in Western Russia 2010
- IFFN Russian Federation Special Issue (IFFN 32)
- Russia 2002 fire report
- IFFN Russian Federation 2002 Fire Special (IFFN 28)
- IFFN Reports from Russia
- Fire Research Campaign Asia-North (FIRESCAN)
Bibliography on fire in ecosystems of boreal Eurasia
One of the results of the first international fire science conference in the Russian Federation (1993) was the publication of a monograph on fire in boreal Eurasia, including some selected contributions on boreal North America. The literature cited in the monograph contains numerous publications which in many cases are not easily accessible. To facilitate literature search the bibliographical sources are provided by topic (chapter).
Goldammer, J.G. and V.V. Furyaev. 1996. Fire in Ecosystems of Boreal Eurasia. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 390 p.