Firefighters and forestry workers in Russia’s Far East extinguished 14 wildfires and continue putting out another 12 in the past 24 hours, the regional emergencies ministry said on Sunday.
“Satellite monitoring and aircraft surveillance registered a total of 26 forest fires in the last 24 hours; fourteen of those were quickly extinguished,” the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said the remaining 12 wildfires had spread over the total area of about 55 hectares.
More than 660 personnel and 84 vehicles are involved in the firefighting effort in the affected regions, including Yakutia, the Khabarovsky Territory, the Matitime Territory and the Amur Region.
Wildfires in forested regions of Russia are common during the dry and hot summer season. Most of the time, the fires start because of the careless behavior of local residents in the woods.
Wildfires devastated a number of regions in central Russia last summer, killing 62 people and leaving thousands homeless.
VLADIVOSTOK, May 5 (RIA Novosti)