Over a million hectares of forest burned down in Yakutia

The total area of fires reached 2,305.14 ha. In total, 251 active natural fires were recorded on the territory of the republic. The fire has already passed 1 536 760.7 hectares, of which 1 323 265.6 hectares are forests, 213 495.1 hectares are non-forest area.

“Firefighters have been moving from region to region within two months, and the Russian Emergencies Ministry's aviation has drained about 4.5 thousand tons of water in order to minimize the consequences of the fire element and prevent tragic consequences”, - Interfax quotes a statement from the Ministry of Emergencies.

According to the emergency department, the situation is now "gradually stabilizing".

Meanwhile,TASS notes, in some areas the fire almost came close to housing. Fires were recorded 5 km from several settlements.

“Fires are active near the village of Svetly and the village of Syuldyukar, Mirny district, as well as near the villages of Dikimdya and Kuerelyakh of the Gorny district,” the message says.

As noted in the government, on July 15, Be-200 and Il-76 planes successfully operated in the village of Syuldukar, the fire from the north-eastern side was extinguished. In the village of Magaras, extinguishing forces are being built up; a helicopter with a spillway is scheduled to take off on Friday.

According to the Ministry of Ecology of Yakutia, work is being carried out in the republic to extinguish 75 forest fires in 17 regions and specially protected natural areas. 2,103 people and 268 units of equipment were involved in extinguishing, 41 fires were extinguished per day on an area of over 78.1 thousand hectares.

A difficult forest fire situation persists on the territory of Gorny, Zhigansky, Kobyaysky, Mirninsky, Olekminsky, Oymyakonsky, Suntarsky, Khangalassky, Ust-Maisky, Tomponsky districts, where 177 foci of natural fires were registered.

Yakutia is one of the most flammable regions of the country. The total area of forests in the region is 256.1 million hectares (83.4% of the territory of the subject). In 2020, the area covered by forest fires exceeded 6 million hectares. Now in Yakutia, an emergency regime has been introduced due to forest fires. From July 1, the stay of citizens in the forests is limited, and certain types of work are carried out.

Earlier, the regional eco-activist Rosa Dyachkovskaya turned to the actor Leonardo DiCaprio with a request to help the region extinguish flattering fires. She posted screenshots of the correspondence with the page administrator DiCaprio. In messages from him it is said that the actor and his management will study the issue and will be ready to contact the authorities of the region and offer their help in extinguishing the fire. However, the authorities of the republic by means of the actor refused.