Wildfires almost extinguished in Russia’s Far East

The wildfires that have been raging across 7,000 hectares in Russia’s far East have been mostly extinguished, the local forestry department said on Friday.

A wildfire is an uncontrolled fire that is wiping out large fields and areas of land, it can also be termed forest fires, grass fires, peat fires and bush fires depending on the type of vegetation being burnt.

Wildfires occur on every continent except Antarctica, it can occur naturally, but many are caused by humans accidentally or deliberately.

The local forestry department said over 370 fire-fighters, 71 pieces of equipment and three aircraft were mobilised to fight the wildfires.

“Meanwhile, 14 wildfires covering an area of 552 hectares are still raging in the Amur, Khabarovsk and Jewish Autonomous Regions,’’ it said.

Report said in overall, 147 forest fires on 37,500 hectares of land had been registered in the Far East this year, more than in the same period in 2016.