15 wildfires doused in a day in Russia's Far East

Vladivostok, May 11 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Firefighters have extinguished 15 out of 25 forest fires in Russia's Far East in a day, the forestry department said Saturday.

"Out of 25 forest fires, 15 have been put out, seven are active in Sakha (Yakutia), with one of them contained, and three others have been contained in Khabarovsk," the department said.

As of Friday, fire had covered nearly 13,000 hectares.

The firefighting effort involved around 500 people, 40 items of equipment and seven aircraft, including four helicopters.

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.

 

--IANS/RIA Novosti

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