Wildfires

Wildfires Spread in Siberia

The area of wildfires in Buryatia (south-eastern Siberia) grew dramatically over the past three days off from 60 to 689 hectares, the local forestry authority said on Tuesday.

"We have registered 33 seats of fire in 15 districts," the authority’s press secretary Alexandra Yegorova said, adding the fires had been caused by negligence of local people.

"Presently, 471 people are extinguishing the fires, including smokejumpers," she said. "We are using 75 specialised vehicles, 21 tractors and three bulldozers."

From the beginning of the fire season in the republic, the authority has registered 444 fires covering an area exceeding 26,000 hectares