How a forest fire was extinguished in the vicinity of Gelendzhik
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On Wednesday evening, the Ministry of Emergency Situations reported on the elimination of a major fire on the outskirts of Gelendzhik that broke out the day before. The local administration had to attract dozens of volunteers from among the local residents to help firefighters. “People dug protective ditches all night,” eyewitnesses say. In total, about 500 people and 90 pieces of equipment were involved in the elimination of the emergency, more than 400 tons of water were dumped on the burning forest. The culprit of the state of emergency, according to preliminary data, may be a 40-year-old unemployed man who lit a fire.
Residents of Gelendzhik and vacationers practically did not sleep on Wednesday night: a forest fire on the outskirts of the city, which began the day before, was growing rapidly. At times, eyewitnesses share, it seemed that the wall of fire was sliding down from the mountains and approaching the houses. And the first message about a fire in the Kupriyanov Shchel microdistrict of Gelendzhik was received by the emergency service on Tuesday at 14:29. The calculation that arrived at the scene found that dry grass was burning on an area of about 1 thousand square meters. m. Three hours later, the Ministry of Emergency Situations already reported that due to intense heat and gusty winds, the fire spread to an area of 1.5 hectares. Two Mi-8 helicopters were involved in extinguishing the fire. Nevertheless, by 10 p.m. the area of the fire had increased to 5 hectares. The fire spread in the forest area, moving up the Markoth ridge.
“It burns very strongly, a gust of wind – and immediately a flash of fire,” a resident of Gelendzhik posted on a social network a night panorama of the Markotkh mountain range, where numerous pockets of flame are visible in a vast space.
Thousands of comments from anxious citizens appeared on social networks, who feared that the fire from the mountains would move towards housing. The fate of the animals in the Safari Park also caused alarm – people offered their help in the removal and arrangement of the inhabitants of the park. Around midnight, park staff recorded a message that the fire did not come close, that the animals were not in danger.
“If you have knapsack and forest fire extinguishers and want to help firefighters in the fight against a forest fire on the Markotkh Ridge, join the firefighting,” such an appeal to citizens appeared in the official Telegram channel administration of Gelendzhik. Groups of volunteers ready to help firefighters began to form on social networks. “Careful people go to the place of the fire, trying to help in some way. There are many volunteers, and more are coming. Someone goes with inventory, and someone with five pieces of water and shovels. People were digging protective ditches all night long, not paying attention to the heavy wind and stone-clay soil,” eyewitnesses write.
“An operational headquarters has been deployed on the spot,” Gelendzhik Mayor Alexei Bogodistov reported closer to midnight. “Our firefighters, rescuers and public utilities, foresters from Anapa, Goryachiy Klyuch, Tuapse, Novorossiysk, deputies, administration employees and volunteers are involved in the liquidation. At night, the operation of the Mi-8 helicopter is prohibited. We work manually. A total of 169 people and 31 pieces of equipment.”
At dawn, helicopter flights resumed, and a few hours later, two Be-200 amphibious aircraft appeared in the sky over Gelendzhik, which began to dump water on the fires. In the morning, the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations for the Krasnodar Territory reported, citing the Federal Forestry Agency, that 118 hectares had already been engulfed in fire. In total, about 500 people and 90 pieces of equipment were involved in the elimination of the emergency, more than 400 tons of water were dumped on the burning forest. Vacationers in Gelendzhik have flooded social media with footage from the beaches of an amphibious plane landing on the water, then taking off towards a mountain range and dumping water onto the smoking slopes.
The localization of the fire became known on Wednesday evening. In some places, the forest continued to smolder even after that, but it no longer looked as intimidating as last night, the townspeople say. Rospotrebnadzor claims that there is no excess of the concentration of harmful substances in the air in the residential areas of Gelendzhik.
A third more forest burned in Russia than a year earlier
The head of Rosleskhoz, Ivan Sovetnikov, said that this year the area of forest fires reached 4.3 million hectares, which is about a third more than in 2022 (when 3.3 million hectares burned down). Most of the fire was recorded in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Khabarovsk Territory, Magadan Region, Amur and Sverdlovsk Regions – they accounted for about 80% of the total area of forest fires. For example, 1.5 million hectares of forest burned in Yakutia, and 0.9 million hectares in the Khabarovsk Territory. Mr. Sovetnikov made it clear that in 2023, the fire passed 1.8 times less than the average. Thus, according to Rosleskhoz, the average area covered by fire in Russian forests over five years reached 7.8 million hectares.
In June 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on fighting forest fires, instructing the government and governors to reduce their area by at least 50% by 2030 compared to 2021 (then the fire in Russia covered 10.1 million hectares – an area larger than Hungary). Recall that in August 2022, due to the heat and lack of rain, a fire hazard situation developed in the Central Federal District. Then the smoke from forest fires reached Moscow, and residents began to complain about the smell of burning, ash and smog. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin even created a government commission that coordinated the extinguishing of forest fires in Russia. According to the decree of the government of the Russian Federation, in 2023, the fire in the forests should not cover more than 5.5 million hectares.
Rosleskhoz also stressed that since the beginning of this year, the so-called control zones have been reduced by 94.5 million hectares, where earlier fires were not allowed to be extinguished “because of economic inexpediency.” Most of these areas are located in remote and hard-to-reach areas of the forest. And Mr. Sovetnikov was glad that in 2023 the target of 5.5 million hectares was not achieved, promising: “This year, the area (fires.— “b”) if it increases, it is already insignificant. However, the official recalled that in recent years, the fire season in Russia lasts the whole year, so his department expects fires in the forests of the southern regions in September-October and “until December.”
The causes of the incident in Gelendzhik are to be established by law enforcement agencies. According to preliminary data, 40-year-old unemployed Roman Kovalenko can be recognized as the culprit. He earns money by collecting and handing over scrap metal, which he stores in a forest on the outskirts of Gelendzhik. On Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Kovalenko lit a fire and threw a coil of copper wire into it to burn the insulation, the flame spread to dry grass. The possible culprit of the fire was detained, a criminal case was initiated against him under Part 1 of Art. 261 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (destruction or damage to forest plantations).
Large landing ship evacuates tourists from flooded areas of Primorye
Primorsky Territory Governor Oleg Kozhemyako announced that the Pacific Fleet (Pacific Fleet) will assist in the evacuation of tourists blocked after another cyclone in a number of settlements on the southernmost sea coast in the region in the Khasan district. “Barabash, Andreevka, other settlements suffered, bridges and roads were washed out. Remained (cut off from transport communication.— “b”) thousands of vacationers, local residents. The Pacific Fleet is helping us with the removal of citizens,” Mr. Kozhemyako said on Wednesday on the air of the Rossiya 24 TV channel. The press service of the regional government clarified that the governor had agreed on the allocation of a large landing ship (BDK). “The ship will operate a flight from the port of Zarubino to the area of the Vladivostok sea station. Transport people. The ship will also be able to take on board about 40 cars, ”Oleg Kozhemyako is quoted in the message.
On August 29–30, another cyclone hit the south of the region. According to Primgidromet, 206 mm of precipitation (114% of the monthly norm) fell in the Khasan district during the day. As a result, roads were washed out. According to the government of the region, the settlements of Andreevka, Risovaya Pad, Vityaz, Zarubino, Gvozdevo, Posyet, Kraskino, Tsukanovo, Khasan, Bezverkhovo, Primorsky and Perevoznaya were left without transport links in the Khasan district.
“The commander of the Pacific Fleet, Admiral Viktor Liina, confirmed the possibility of helping people affected by floods,” Ilya Kolesnikov, head of the information support department of the press service of the Eastern Military District for the Pacific Fleet, told Kommersant. “Now the process of agreeing on the allocation of a large landing ship is being completed after receiving an official request from the government the edges”. According to him, we are talking about the BDK “Nikolai Vilkov”. “Currently, a schedule (of flights.— “b”),” said Mr. Kolesnikov, adding that the number of people and cars to be taken out would be determined “after the fact” at the place of loading.
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