September 3, 2013
Forest fires rage in the Siberia republic of Buryatia
ULAN-UDE, 2 September 2013 (RIA Novosti) – Seven forest fires rage in the Siberian republic of Buryatia covering an area of over 50 hectares, a spokesman for the local forestry department said on Monday. Firefighters managed to put out 12 forest fires over the weekend but winds and record temperatures started a new wave of wildfires, the spokesman said, adding that the fires pose no threat to residential areas. In the summer of 2010, devastating wildfires swept across Russia, killing more than 50 people, destroying thousands of houses, 2.6 million hectares of woods and a quarter of the country’s grain harvest. According to earlier Greenpeace reports, last year’s wildfires in Russia were at some point even worse than in 2010.
