VLADIVOSTOK, September 20 (RIA Novosti) - The total area of fires raging in the Russian Far East has increased tenfold, from 18 to 170 hectares (44.5 to 420 acres), in the past 24 hours, a source in the local emergencies service said Thursday.
The number of fires in Far Eastern taiga doubled - from four to eight - but currently pose no threat to the local population or the infrastructure.
"Five [fires] of them are burning in the Sakhalin Region, two - in the Khabarovsk Territory and one in the Amur Region," the source said.
A total of 1.193 forest fires have swept over 400 hectares (988 acres) of Russian taiga this year.
