Forest protection service specialists have extinguished 15 forest fires in Russia’s Far East in the past 24 hours, the local forestry department said on Friday.
“Thirty-nine forest fires have been registered in the Far East in the past 24 hours,” the department said. “Specialists put out 15 wildfires and contained another ten.”
It added that 14 fires remained to be addressed but that there was no threat to inhabited localities.
The area covered by forest fires in the region in the past day has totaled 437 hectares. A total of 767 people, 97 units of equipment and eight aircraft were used in the firefighting effort.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on August 6 called for personal responsibility for forest fires across the country.