YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, June 6 (RIA Novosti) - Six forest fires are currently raging on Russia's Far Eastern island of Sakhalin, of which some are near oil and gas pipelines, the chief engineer at the regional forest protection aviation base said on Friday.
"Fires are now burning on both sides of the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas pipeline," Oleg Andreyev said.
The fires are 20-30 km away from the nearest populated areas, and pose no threat to the local population, he said.
A total of 20 people and 15 vehicles are currently involved in extinguishing the fires, and will be joined later by two helicopters, as well as workers and vehicles from nearby Sakhalin-1 and Sakhalin-2 project sites.
