The Prosecutor General's Office discovered cases of intentional arson of forests in the Irkutsk region. This was told by the official representative of the department Alexander Kurennoy.
“It is necessary to more seriously control the places of legal logging, especially not to allow illegal logging. We also revealed such facts in the Irkutsk region, when, apparently, fires covered illegal logging, ”RIA Novosti quoted him as saying.
At the same time, the Ministry for Emergencies believes that the cause of forest fires could be careless handling of fire.
“The conducted air reconnaissance showed that most of the centers of natural fires are located near roads. This suggests that the main cause of natural fires was the careless handling of fire by a person, ”the agency said on August 5.
The area of fires is growing
The area of forest fires in the Irkutsk region per day increased by 37 thousand hectares and on the morning of Tuesday, August 6, amounted to 650 thousand hectares, according to the regional department of the Ministry of Emergencies.
“As of the morning of August 6, 132 fires are operating in the Irkutsk Region on an area of 650 thousand ha. Compared to the previous days, the number of fires increased by seven, the area of existing foci of natural fires increased by 37 thousand hectares, ”the agency said.
According to the Ministry of Emergencies, two fires are located three kilometers from the settlements, another 12 - ten kilometers. However, fire services are already engaged in the elimination of fire, there is no threat to settlements.
The fight against the spread of fire. Over the past day, airplanes dropped more than 600 tons of water onto the edge of forest fires, eliminating “5400 meters of the line of fire and reducing the intensity of burning”. At present, 1,048 people and 177 pieces of equipment are involved in extinguishing fires in the Irkutsk Region, the press service of the Irkutsk Emergencies Ministry said.
Meanwhile, the Prosecutor General’s Office believes that the reason for the current situation with fires was an untimely response to emerging fires. So, according to the representative of the profile head of the state enterprise, Roman Fedosov, in the Irkutsk region, information about fires and the fight against them could be distorted.
“In the Irkutsk region, prosecutors established facts ... reflecting inaccurate information about the area of fire, distance to settlements, distortion of data on the time to eliminate fires,” Fedosov stressed on August 5.
Fire fighting
However, over the past day, fire services have eliminated about 70 fires, reports Avialesohrana.
“According to the information of the regional forestry dispatching services, over the past day, August 5, 67 forest fires on an area of 4,664 hectares have been eliminated in Russia,” the agency’s website says.
The total area of fires in Yakutia decreased by 3,265 ha, 24 fires were eliminated, according to the republican GUMChS.
“In connection with the past rainfall, the forest fire situation in Yakutia is gradually stabilizing, but remains difficult. According to the latest Air Protection data, 125 natural fires are operating on the territory of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) on a total area of 916431 ha, ”the press service of the department notes.
The emergency mode due to fires operates in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Irkutsk Region, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and in one region of the Republic of Buryatia. At the same time, a special fire protection regime has been introduced in 42 constituent entities of the Russian Federation, Avialesohrana informs.
- Mi-8 helicopter with a spillway system for abstraction of water in open reservoirs during extinguishing forest fires in the Boguchansky district of the Krasnoyarsk Territory
- RIA News
- © Alexander Kryazhev
Help from the Ministry of Defense
The Ministry of Defense of Russia reported that the aviation group of the department eliminated all the fires that were designated as targets for extinguishing.
“According to the results of the use of the Ministry of Defense’s aviation group in the Krasnoyarsk Territory on the morning of August 6, all open fires in the areas designated to extinguish military aircraft were eliminated,” RIA Novosti quotes an extract from the Ministry’s official release.
Earlier, the Ministry of Defense reported the elimination of fires on an area of more than 150 thousand hectares.
“On August 5, the aviation group of the Ministry of Defense of Russia completed 60 sorties, 160 discharges of 1688 tons of water to open fires and eliminated forest fires in the Krasnoyarsk Territory and Irkutsk Region over an area of more than 150 thousand hectares,” RIA Novosti reported with reference to the department information and mass communication departments.
According to the website of the Ministry of Defense, 10 Il-76 aircraft and 10 helicopters of the Military Transport Aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces were involved in extinguishing fires. All aircraft are equipped with special devices for draining water.
Statements
Meanwhile, the governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Alexander Uss, announced a “radical change” in the situation with forest fires. According to him, fire services were prepared for the occurrence of fires, “57% of fires in the territory of the region were extinguished on the first day,” and “there was no admission of forest fires to settlements”.
“In turn, he was already in the air three times and conducted reconnaissance and three times flew over the fires of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. I can say that the number of fires is decreasing, and the area is decreasing. We affirm that fire does not threaten either the economy or people, ”RIA Novosti reports the words of the head of the region.
Against the backdrop of large forest fires in Siberia and the Far East, the Prosecutor General’s Office said that in many Russian regions, fire fighting equipment does not meet the standards.
“In most regions of the country, the state of those forces and means that are designed to extinguish fires in forests simply does not meet regulatory requirements. Many fire extinguishing agents are outdated, have exhausted their resources, ”said Alexander Kurennoy, head of the department for media relations, in an interview with the ether channel on Tuesday.