Firefighters have extinguished seven wildfires in Russia’s Far East over the past 24 hours and keep battling remaining seven forest fires, local forestry authorities said in a statement on Monday.
Over 480 people, 63 units of firefighting mechanized units and four aircraft were involved in combating the fires, which covered an area of 287.5 hectares over the past 24 hours.
“Seven forest fires are active in the region as of Monday 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.