Russia has been fighting forest fires for months. Most of the time, the flames rage far away from villages. But now the authorities in the east of the country are warning the residents.
Yakutsk – The forest fires raging in Russia are becoming more and more of a threat to people. The authorities of the particularly affected Siberian region of Yakutia (Republic of Sakha) in the east of the country warned of toxic smoke in more than 50 villages on Sunday.
The wind is driving the smoke of the fires into the city of Yakutsk. The residents of the affected areas should therefore wear protective masks outdoors and seal doors and windows with damp cloths to prevent smoke from entering the houses.
At the weekend, the situation worsened again after the fire brigade had previously announced success in extinguishing. According to civil defense, there were more than 180 fires in the Yakutia region on Sunday. The emergency services spoke of a “difficult situation”. According to this, around 745,000 hectares of forest area were on fire. That corresponds to about half of the area of Schleswig-Holstein.
Pictures showed how firefighters fought against sources of fire, but also how they slept on the grass during breaks from exhaustion. The authorities have imposed a state of emergency, but housing estates are currently not at risk, it said. Everything is done to prevent the flames from spreading to houses.
6000 firefighters across the country
Fires are raging in other parts of Russia as well. According to the forest protection authority, more than 300 fires were extinguished on an area of 853,000 hectares on Sunday night. More than 6000 firefighters and many fire-fighting planes are in action across the country.
Every year, in the largest country in the world in terms of area, with its taiga forest belt, which is important for the climate, huge stands of trees are ablaze. According to the Russian Emergency Ministry, there are slightly fewer fires this year than in 2020.
While some regions are waiting for rain, other areas of Russia are struggling with too much water: In the Khabarovsk region near the border with China, authorities said that more than 100 people from two villages were brought to safety on Saturday because a river overflowed its banks. The water is now going back. dpa
