Current forest fires in the Russian Federation
Forest Fires in the Russian Federation
24 August 2015
Satellite-derived data on the number of active fires and area burned in the Russian Federation
The Remote Sensing Working Group of the Forest Fire Monitoring Laboratory, V.N. Sukachev Institute of Forest, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences/ Krasnoyarsk Joint Science Center for Satellite Remote Sensing, is monitoring active fires and area burned by satellite remote sensing. According to the preliminary data of 24 August 2015 a total number of 27,730 fires were detected in the Russian Federation since the beginning of 2015, affecting 26 million ha of forests and other lands. It must be noted that these preliminary data will be validated at the end of the year and thus become subject to correction.
With regards to the regions most affected by wildfires the preliminary accumulated data of the Sukachev Institute of Forest for the Siberia Subject are:
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Number of fires affecting forests: 5295
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Number of fires affecting other lands: 8125
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Forest area burned: 8.21 million ha
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Other vegetation burned: 7.35 million ha
The operational fire data taken from the website of the Federal Forest Agency (http://www.rosleshoz.gov.ru/) on 21 August 2015 include the fire status of 20 August 2015:
On 20 August 2015 39 forest fires were extinguished which had burned 2214 ha, involving 4055 firefighters and other people, 422 ground units and 42 aircraft. During the day 6794 ha burned, including 6643 ha of wooded area. In Republic of Buryatia 35 fires have burned 78,661 ha of forests, and in Irkutsk Oblast 15 fires affected 13,896 ha of forest. Emergency situation has been declared in seven Subjects of the Russian Federation: Orenburg, Irkutsk and Chita areas, Republics of Buryatia, Tyva, Khakassia, Sakha (Yakutia) and Zabaykalsky Krai.
Fire maps of Irkutsk Region and Buryat Republic around lake Baikal, Russian Federation, 24 August 2015.
The maps are generated daily by the Sukachev Institute of Forest, Remote Sensing Laboratory, Russian Academy of Sciences, Siberian Branch, Krasnoyarsk, Russian Federation. The accumulated locations of the fires since 1 March – 24 August 2015 can be seen on the lower map. 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/727
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.
