Emergency situation regime imposed in Russia’s Buryatia over wildfires

An emergency situation regime has been imposed in Russia’s Siberian republic of Buryatia over the worsening wildfire situation, with 34 wildfires registered on an overall area of 2,700 hectares, the press service of the republican forestry agency said on Friday.
People will be banned to entre forests, with fines of from 3,000 to 100,000 roubles (85 to 2,800 U.S. dollars) being levied on those who violate the ban.
Wildfires are raging in ten district of Buryatia, including in the Trans-Baikal national park and the Barguzin wildlife reserve. Fire fighting operations involve 673 men and 110 units of hardware, including 84 fire engines.
Since the beginning of this year’s wildfire season, as many as 816 fires on an overall area of about 73,000 hectares have been registered in Buryatia.