It's all burning with fire: Forest fires have engulfed the Far East
The most difficult situation with forest fires has developed in five regions of the Far East, the Federal Forestry Agency told Izvestia. Emergency situations of various scales have already been introduced in these regions, and the number of people and equipment involved in extinguishing is constantly increasing. However, fire continues to threaten populated areas from time to time, with people complaining about smoke and the smell of burning. This situation is more typical for the summer period, experts noted. The situation is complicated by the behavior of local residents — they continue to disregard fire safety rules, the Avilesookhran emphasized.
Federal emergency regime
More than 3,000 people and more than 500 pieces of equipment are extinguishing forest fires, the Federal Forestry Agency told Izvestia. The most difficult situation is in the five regions of the Far East. These include the Trans-Baikal Territory, where a federal emergency regime has been in effect since April, as well as Buryatia, where a regional emergency regime has been introduced since May 13, said Evgeny Pisarevsky, head of the Department for Forest Fire Protection.
"Emergency regimes of a municipal nature have been introduced in certain areas of the Amur Region, Khabarovsk Territory and Yakutia," he added.
In Transbaikalia, the fire got close to populated areas: local residents complained of smoke and the smell of burning, country houses burned down somewhere.
— Over 840 paratroopers and paratroopers at the federal and regional levels are helping the region. In the near future, about 120 more specialists from the Federal Aviation Security Service, as well as from Ugra and Karelia, will arrive in Transbaikalia," added Evgeny Pisarevsky.
In the Amur region, a natural fire approached the city of Tsiolkovsky and the federal highway. Horrific images of the fire quickly spread across social media. The fire was quickly extinguished.
In the coming days, warming is expected in the southern regions of Transbaikalia and Buryatia and there is a risk of new forest fires, said Alexey Venglinsky, Deputy head of the Federal Forestry Agency, at a meeting of the Federal Headquarters for Coordinating Forest Fire Fighting on Thursday.
The agency also recommended that Buryatia attract additional forces and resources.
In total, there are over 60 forest fires in Russia on an area of, more than 665 thousand hectares have been covered by fire, it follows from the data of the Aviation Security Service. A special fire protection regime has been established in 46 regions.
— Access to the forest is restricted for the duration of the regime, and in some regions it is prohibited. This is an important and necessary measure to prevent new fires and ensure the safety of citizens," Evgeny Pisarevsky reminded.
Controlled oncoming annealing, which is carried out from specially laid mineralized strips, roads, and streams, was named the main method of fighting forest fires in the Aviation Security Service. However, the daily occurrence of new man-made fires prevents the situation from stabilizing. They occur due to violations of fire safety regulations in forests and adjacent territories. Due to the strong wind, the fire spreads quickly through the dry grass and forest floor.
What is the reason for the early start of fires?
There is an atypical situation with forest fires in the Far East this year, Konstantin Kobyakov, head of flora conservation projects at the Nature and People Foundation, told Izvestia. Forest fires there traditionally start earlier than in the rest of the country, he confirmed.
"But still, fires in Transbaikalia, Buryatia, and the Amur Region are no longer springtime, when fire enters the forest only from open spaces that have already dried out, and the forest itself has not dried out yet and burns reluctantly," he explained. — However, now, due to the low rainfall, the forest is already dry, and fires are similar to those that usually occur in summer.
According to the expert, global climate change has also led to this situation. In the future, such phenomena will occur more often, Konstantin Kobyakov predicts.
— More fire has been passed now than in the last three years to this point. But you have to understand that they were abnormally calm in terms of the weather, which was relatively good," he explained. — That is, they were rather out of the general trend, which we have now returned to.
Climate unpredictability will remain one of the factors that will have a significant impact on the fire season, Konstantin Kobyakov added.
— It is possible that after such a heavy spring, a cold snap will come and the second half of the fire season will turn out to be more calm, it is difficult to predict now. But we cannot rule out a more undesirable development of events when a lot of things burn down," he believes.
Despite the allocation of additional funds and the renewal of the fire fighting equipment fleet, there is still a shortage of forest firefighters in the country, the expert added.
Will the weather help fight fires
Abnormally warm weather contributed to a sharp increase in fire danger in the Far East, the Phobos weather center confirmed. So, in Blagoveshchensk, the air was already warming up to +26.5, which is more typical for July. The atmospheric front that has come to the region with moist and cool air from the center of Siberia will not help the situation, according to the data on the center's website.
In the Amur region, precipitation is unlikely to help put out severe fires, except that it will slightly dampen the flames. And it will be more difficult for fire to spread through damp vegetation.
"But the Trans-Baikal firefighters should not rely on the help of nature. The fact is that Lake Baikal will contribute to the dispersion of rain clouds. The main cloud arrays will cover only the northern regions of the region, and the main fires will be outside the zone of inclement weather," Phobos said.
Khabarovsk Territory expects gloomy and cold weather on May 15-17, the Hydrometeorological Center added, even wet snow is possible. The most intense precipitation is expected on Sunday, May 18. However, on Friday and Saturday, warm weather will remain in the south of the region with air temperatures up to +25 degrees. Then it will get much colder, the temperature on the coast can reach up to +5 degrees.
In Primorye, the hot weather will continue on Friday, the air temperature may reach +31 degrees. On Saturday, May 17, there will be light rains in some places, it will get colder by a couple of degrees. Only on Sunday night the cold front will bring down heavy rains, during the day the air will cool down to +15...+20 degrees.
Rains with snow, as well as increased winds are expected in Kamchatka. Over the weekend, the air in the south of the peninsula will warm up to +12...+18 degrees, in the north - up to +5 ...+11 degrees.
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