Fire Destroys 6,300 Hectares Of Taiga In Far East Over 24 Hours
Fire Destroys 6,300 Hectares Of Taiga In Far East Over 24 Hours
14July 2005
publishedby ITAR-TASS
Khabarovsk — A total of 6,300 hectares of woodland have been destroyed by fire in Russia’s Far East over the past 24 hours, the regional forestry service reported on Friday.
An abnormal heat wave in the Far East with temperatures exceeding 30 degrees Celsius has sharply aggravated the situation in the region. Fires are raging in nine of ten regions in the east of the country, the service reported.
A total of 83 fire centres are fixed in the region. Twenty-one of them appeared on Thursday. Over 1,100 specialists, 30 aircraft and 130 ground vehicles are fighting the blaze in the region. However, up to ten new fires begin daily in remote taiga areas.
Over 5,175 hectares of woodland have been destroyed by blaze in Yakutia over the past 24 hours. The damage from woodland fires is up to five times as high as the damage in the same period last year.
A total of 738 fires have been registered in the region this year. They have destroyed 86,506 hectares of woodland and 37,100 hectares of nonforested area.
