26/7 Tass 341
VOLGOGRAD, July 26 (Itar-Tass) —— An Ilyushin Il-76 jet of the Emergency Situations Ministry has arrived in Volgograd to help put out a wildfire several kilometers away from the city.
“An Il-76 equipped with a 42-tonne fuel tank departed from the Ramenskoye airfield in the Moscow region for Volgograd at 7:28 p.m. local time,” a ministry representative said.
A Mil Mi-8 helicopter has been sent from Rostov-on-Don, Natalia Zlobina from the regional emergency situations department said. A fire train is on hold at the Gumrak station.
First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov was informed about the Kamenny Buerak situation and ordered the head of the Federal Forestry Agency and the Emergency Situations Ministry to enlarge the fire fighting force.
The unauthorized burning of dry grass created a threat to the forest at 9:55 a.m. Moscow time on Tuesday, the source said. “Grass was burning on the area of ten hectares and the blaze spread onto 1.5 hectares of forest. The fire endangered the Luch dacha compound, which was 500 meters away, and the Rodnichok dacha compound, which was only 200 meters away from the fire zone,” the Emergency Situations Ministry source said.
The hot and dry weather and the high winds fanned the fire. “The wind has died out, so we hope for a happy ending,” Zlobina said. “The fire is being extinguished from several sides, from the town of Kamenny Buerak, from two dacha compounds and from the forest.”
According to the latest reports, the fire was confined. Some 200 people, including volunteers, are putting out the blaze.