Firefighters put out 70 forest fires across Russia in the past 24 hours, the Aerial Forest Protection Service reported on Saturday.
“Seventy forest fires, which raged on the total area of some 112,000 hectares, were put out in the past 24 hours,” the press office of the Aerial Forest Protection Service said in a statement.
“As of 00:00 Moscow time August 17, a total of 112 forest fires were reported on the territory of Russia covering an area of 158,000 hectares and intensive work to put them out was underway,” the statement reads.
According to the Aerial Forest Protection Service, most of the forest fires were registered on the territory of the Irkutsk Region, where 34 fires covered an area of 88,410 hectares.
A total of 2,626 people, 214 special-purpose machinery and 26 aircraft were involeved in the operation to extinguish forest fires. Forty-five aircraft were involved in the monitoring of the wildfires’ situation.
Firefight efforts also continue in the Russian regions of Buryatia, Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk.