Russia struggles to extinguish raging forest fires
At a conference on forest fire prevention held on August 6 in Tomsk city, within the framework of this inspection trip to the Siberian region, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev instructed leaders of regions and provinces to make efforts to mobilize forces and means to extinguish the raging forest fires.
At a conference on forest fire prevention held on August 6 in Tomsk city, within the framework of this inspection trip to the Siberian region, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev instructed leaders of regions and provinces to make efforts to mobilize forces and means to extinguish the raging forest fires.
The Prime Minister also called on people and rescue forces not to be complacent, even though the temperature has dropped by 5-7 degrees Celsius (from 34-37 degrees Celsius to below 30 degrees Celsius) in the past two days and widespread rain has begun.
A forest fire in Russia. (Source: AFP)
Mr. Medvedev declared that the federal government and all levels must take all necessary measures to prevent a recurrence of a series of fires that burned down many residential areas, leading to great loss of life and property, as in the summer of 2010. All officials and firefighters must be directly responsible for the fire prevention and fighting situation in their areas of responsibility.
Health Minister Veronika Skvorsova has also been tasked with closely monitoring and coordinating relief efforts and providing assistance to people in fire-hit areas. Within two weeks, the Russian Ministry of Agriculture must draft and submit to the government a plan for the autumn-winter crop and provide comprehensive assistance to farmers affected by this year's fires.
Prime Minister Medvedev announced that on August 9, the Russian Government will meet to approve a fire safety program until 2017, focusing on assessing the current situation and proposing effective and timely measures to prevent "fires."
The new point of this program is that Russia will establish a firefighting squadron with about 100 specialized aircraft, including Be-200 seaplanes, and equip fire prevention and fighting equipment for people living near forests.
In the summer of 2012, nearly 150 forest fires broke out in Russia covering an area of nearly 17,000 hectares. The federal and local governments in Russia have established firefighting teams of more than 900,000 people and 125,000 technical vehicles, including more than 100 specialized aircraft, to extinguish the forest fires.
The 2010 forest fires in Russia affected about 3 million hectares of farmland, burned down many residential areas, killed 60 people and injured hundreds./.
According to (TTXVN)- nt
