Firefighters have extinguished 13 wildfires in Russia’s Far East over the past 24 hours and keep battling remaining 19 forest fires, local forestry authorities said in a statement on Wednesday.
Over 900 people, 120 units of firefighting mechanized units and 12 aircraft were involved in combating the fires, which covered an area of 259 hectares over the past 24 hours.
“Nineteen forest fires are active in the region as of Wednesday morning. There is no threat to residential areas and service facilities,” the statement said.
In the summer of 2010, devastating wildfires swept across Russia, killing more than 50 people, destroying thousands of houses, 2.6 million hectares of woods and a quarter of the country’s grain harvest.
