New versions of the cause of the Ryazan fires have appeared: beekeepers are under suspicion

Now almost 200 hectares of land are burning in the Ryazan region, and in total the fire has already passed almost 12 thousand hectares. According to experts, the situation remains extremely difficult. The head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations said today that all this is not just like that, and, quite possibly, we are dealing with sabotage.

Whether this version is plausible, and also whether it is right to save on the prevention of forest fires, we asked Alexander Podgrushny, professor of the Department of Fire Tactics and Service of the Academy of the State Fire Service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation.

The phrase “Extinguishing fires is not economically profitable” has become an Internet meme. The governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Alexander Uss, became famous for this first strange statement in the summer of 2019: “If we have cold weather in winter and a snowstorm occurs, it doesn’t occur to anyone … to sink icebergs … so that we are warmer. Something similar, I think, in relation to forest fires. The fact is that this is a common natural phenomenon, which is pointless to fight, and maybe even harmful somewhere. ”

For his words, Uss was mercilessly criticized by the Russians, who for some reason did not want to suffocate from smog and combustion products for the sake of saving the budget. In the end, there are a lot of things in our life that are “economically unprofitable,” users were indignant: paying pensions to the elderly and the disabled, treating hopeless patients is also unprofitable, but this does not mean that this should not be done.

The topic was continued by the adviser to the head of Rosleskhoz, who was responsible for fighting forest fires, Alexander Agafonov, lamenting that “we will go bankrupt – to use aviation for such purposes.” In 2022, by the way, he was fired “on his own.” That’s just Ryazan is not saved.

Nevertheless, the idea that forest fires are a completely mundane thing, they were both a hundred years ago and five hundred years ago, so why fight them in the 21st century, no, no, and slips through some diligent leaders. You can understand them, because you have to spend money on extinguishing from the state treasury, and the health of citizens choking from smoke is on the conscience and wallet of the citizens themselves.

– The fact that fires do not need to be extinguished can only be declared by enemies of nature and the area where they themselves live, – says Alexander Podgrushny, professor at the Department of Fire Tactics and Service of the Academy of the State Fire Service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation. – For example, in 2010, due to landscape fires, the carbon balance was disturbed, when nature can no longer process the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere, hence the climate jumps that will be inherited by our grandchildren, and the governors only care about momentary benefits.

But there have always been forest fires, haven’t they?

– So why are they not in the Moscow region now? Because since 2010, they have carried out large-scale preventive measures for watering and preparing for fires, created response teams, connected aviation equipment, “fire tanks” (MTLB, swamp vehicles). In the same Shatura there is a base for extinguishing. They have their own fleet and their all-terrain vehicles. And in Ryazan, 70% of cars got stuck while getting to the fires. Ryazan was warned in advance that they would burn, they called them, they said, but they, to put it mildly, ignored this problem.

– Unlike Siberia, Ryazan is on fire for the first time?

– No, there were also strong fires in 2008 or 2009. I personally participated in the extinguishing.

– How do you feel about the version that it could be deliberate arson?

– In the pre-war years, people were shot on the spot for setting fire to the forest. If a fire occurs in places where a special fire regime has been introduced on the territory, then, of course, these are people. There was talk that sometimes the residents themselves set fire, upset that someone was relocated after the previous fire, new villages were rebuilt, and they remained in old houses.

Arson is beneficial to two categories: beekeepers and foresters. Ivan-tea grows well on the ashes, and after the fire, the bees collect several times more nectar and 4-5 times more honey comes out. And the foresters write off the forest as burnt, then they process and sell the wood, living on illegal fat.

– And how to prevent it?

– Police and traffic police officers must strictly check everyone who passes through the territory of the area where a special fire hazard regime is established, especially those with fishing rods, those with a gun. If there are, then don’t let them in at all. Shots can also cause fires. Anything can catch fire.

An experiment was carried out, a glass bottle lies at a certain angle, it turns out, a lens, even from this it can begin to smolder. How much do you need in this heat! So everything happens one way or another through the fault of man. And in order for the forest not to burn on such a scale, it is necessary to prepare in advance. And the subjects, and the Ministry of Natural Resources, and the fire department.

– What ends up being more expensive – prevention (what if it doesn’t catch fire?) Or extinguishing?

– Preventive work at a price much more profitable, much. Despite the purchase of equipment, special substances, retardants, which limit the spread of fire and cut off the paths of its movement, and then play the role of fertilizer. And relaxation and hope “at random” in the end comes out much more expensive.

Supporters of the “naturalness of forest fires” suggest leaving the forests that are located in the areas of “forest aviation work”, as well as in “hard-to-reach” and “remote” areas to burn out. Also, do not pay attention when the fire does not threaten settlements and “objects of the economy.”

Well, who knows – today the fire does not threaten anything, and tomorrow – the wind blew in the other direction and the fire flared up and demolished everything in its path. The element is an unpredictable thing.

Although, of course, it must be admitted that putting out fires when the situation becomes critical and there is nowhere to go is a fairly cost-effective business. In the same Krasnoyarsk Territory, where the governor called for savings, in May this year another emergency situation was declared on this occasion, and in June contracts were signed for extinguishing fires and patrolling the forest for 551 million rubles.