Huge forest areas are on fire in the far northeast of Siberia. Photo: AP / NTB
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Heavy and toxic fumes from huge forest fires spread over ever larger parts of eastern Siberia. Summer is the driest in 150 years.
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The hardest hit is the state of Sakha in the northeastern corner of Russia. Thousands of volunteers – men, women and children – take part in the extinguishing work and dig earthworks to slow down the fire.
Local authorities say the capital, Yakutsk, and more than 60 other settlements in the region are suffering from thick smoke blowing eastward. Residents are asked to wear a mask outside and otherwise seal doors and windows at home.
No fatalities or injuries were reported.
—-Volunteers in Siberia dig ditches in the forest to contain the fires. Photo: AP / NTB
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Incredible areas
On Monday, 190 different fire sites were reported. The forest administration, which monitors the huge forest areas from the air, reports that the total size of the uncontrolled fires is around 7 million meters. It is almost as much as the entire former Vest-Agder county.
More than 2,000 firefighters are on the ground, and many planes and helicopters are trying desperately to create wet firebreaks to protect houses and settlements.
Conditions are extremely dry all over Russia, and it is burning in many places. On a national basis, 300 uncontrolled fires have been reported spread over an area of 8.5 million targets. Over 6,500 crews are scattered out in the field.
—-Thick and hazardous smoke enters the city of Yakutsk in eastern Siberia. Photo: AP / NTB
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Becomes extinct
Many of the fires in the uninhabited wilderness areas are not attempted to be extinguished. The fire authorities simply let them burn until they die out of themselves.
– The situation is very difficult. We are experiencing the driest summer in 150 years here in Yakutsk. The heat in June was the highest ever recorded. Along with very dry, strong winds that often occur here, extensive forest fires broke out, says the governor of Sacha.
The state is huge in extent. It is larger than Argentina, four times larger than France. In Russian, the area is referred to as the Republic of Sakha. 80 percent of the land area is forest.
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