The Irkutsk Region has sent 200 firefighters to assist the Khanty-Mansiysk and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrugs.
The Irkutsk Region has dispatched 200 firefighters to assist the Khanty-Mansiysk and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrugs in extinguishing large-scale wildfires. Paratroopers, paratroopers, and ground crews will work in the most challenging areas, where a state of emergency has been declared due to active thunderstorms.
State of emergency and residents' complaints about smog
Due to dry thunderstorms and abnormal heat, a state of emergency is currently in effect throughout Yamal and the Nizhnevartovsk district of Yugra, according to Avialesookhrana. Local residents are already suffering from smog and are feeling unwell.
On Thursday night, the village was so thick with smoke that runny noses lingered all day. Elderly neighbors complained of stomach pain and nausea.
According to local residents, due to forest fires, the smoke from which is blowing into populated areas, they are forced to close their windows tightly at night. However, while solving this problem, people have to endure intense heat. This summer in Yugra was unusually hot and dry: in June and July, temperatures consistently hovered around 25–30 degrees Celsius.
Wildlife behavior and manual fire suppression
Moreover, the tense situation is even evident in the behavior of wild animals. As another NeMoskva reader from the Nizhnevartovsk district notes, the sandbars on both banks of the Agan River are dotted with bear and moose tracks.
It feels like the animals are trying to escape the fire, moving from the forest to the river, swimming from bank to bank. But despite the river's wide width, the fire still spreads. And eventually, both banks are ablaze.
As of July 31, 43 forest fires have been recorded in Yugra, and 94 are still raging in Yamal, of which only 10 have been contained. Ultimately, the main challenge lies in the fact that the fires are breaking out in hard-to-reach areas. Consequently, specialized equipment is only deployed in isolated cases, and firefighters are forced to fight the blazes almost entirely by hand.
A resurgence of wildfires in Siberia
This is the second major outbreak of forest fires caused by thunderstorms in these regions this summer. The first peak occurred in late June and early July, when the combined efforts of federal and interregional forces managed to extinguish nearly 300 fires.
Meanwhile, a similar situation due to thunderstorms and heatwaves has developed in the Krasnoyarsk Krai, where a state of emergency has been in effect for forests since June 10. Specifically, as of July 31, 145 hard-to-reach fires have been recorded in the region, engulfing the northern districts, including the Evenki and Turukhansky districts.
