Major forest fire in Russian Far East covers over 5,000 hectares
Major forest fire in Russian Far East coversover 5,000 hectares
27June 2005
publishedby www.tass.ru
KHABAROVSK – The biggest forest fire in Russias Far East, covering about 5,500 hectares, is registered in the Khabarovsk region, sources from the regions forestry agency told Itar-Tass on Monday.
The fire has engulfed over 2,000 hectares of taiga alone over the past 24 hours, the sources said. An emergency situation has been introduced in the Sovetskaya Gavan district of the Khabarovsk region, where the fire is raging.
Twelve forest centres are fixed in regions forests covering the area of 6,174 hectares. Taiga is in blaze in the Amur, Nanai and Khabarovsk regions.
A total of 117 fires, covering 8,263 hectares, have broken out in the region this year.
According to the regional centre of the Ministry forEmergency Situations, 36 fire centres are registered in Russias Far East.Three major fires, each having the area of up to 300 hectares, continue in theMaritime region.
Several more moderate woodland fires, covering several dozenhectares each, are fixed in Yakutia and on Sakhalin Island. About 400specialists are combating forest fires in the region.
