special project

Tierra del Fuego

Why are forests and steppes in Russia really burning?
How much is actually burning?
And can something be done about this?

Wildfires have long been a fixture of spring and summer in Russia. It's impossible to imagine a news feed at this time without reports of vast areas being fought, of villages and even towns being evacuated, or of residents of such-and-such a town being left unable to breathe due to smoke from burning grass, peat, or forest. 

Based on long-term observations, there are at least two peaks of wildfires each year. To put it simply, in the spring, it's primarily grass that burns, set ablaze ahead of the new agricultural season, and in the summer, it's forests. In a joint special project by "NotMoscow" and the "Earth Concerns Everyone" initiative, we discuss why all this happens (humans are to blame), whether it's possible to combat it (yes), and how (you can contribute too).

If you look at a map of wildfires plotted using satellite images during the height of the spring fire season, the picture is quite striking. For example, in the Kaliningrad region, the entire area is covered in yellow and red dots. Meanwhile, in neighboring countries—Lithuania and Poland—they're practically nonexistent. It's hard to imagine more eloquent proof that wildfires aren't something fatal, natural, and self-evident, but a problem that some countries address effectively while others don't, and Russia is one of the latter.  

Fire Information Resources Satellite (FIRMS) hotspots overlaid on an Aqua MODIS satellite image.

Project expert:
Alexey Yaroshenko,
candidate of biological sciences
and an expert of the forestry program
project "The Earth touches everyone".

Forest fires are burning "somewhere out there." What does this have to do with me?

Why do wildfires affect everyone?
Firstly, because it's beautiful. Truly beautiful. Only beauty is terrifying. 

But seriously: why should we even care about fires if they're happening somewhere far away—in Siberia, in the Far East? It's dense taiga there, very remote, and the fires are being put out by the right people: local forestry departments, forest fire services, leaseholders, the Avialesookhrana, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, and aviation. They'll cope! However, first of all, they do. not always and not always at onceAnd secondly, fires are not only in the taiga and not necessarily far from your home. 

Click on the card titles to learn more.

There may be a fire in your region too.

High risk of fires in July 2024 in 58 regions, in all federal districts

People are dying and suffering

From open spaces where grass is burning, fire can come to towns and cities, often unexpectedly and quickly.

A city or town can be covered in smoke from a fire that is happening thousands of kilometers away.

In 2019, smoke from the Siberian fires reached as far as Kazan.

Forests are dying

Along with them, we are losing not only our national heritage, but also protection from climate change and floods.

Animals are dying

And even if they escape the fire, they die of hunger,
because their habitat is destroyed

Wildfires are further heating up an already hot planet.

This creates conditions for even more intense fires - and we find ourselves in a vicious circle.

The feeling that the fire raging somewhere in the inaccessible Yakut taiga does not concern you is a great and dangerous illusion.

How much is actually burning?

Until the 2000s accounting The wildfire monitoring system in Russia was based on "field data." Such information could hardly be called accurate—no one could say how many fires actually occurred in a year, over what area, with what damage, and for what reasons. In 2005, after several years of development, the Ministry of Natural Resources, together with scientists from research institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences, launched a satellite-based wildfire monitoring system—"ISDM-Rosleskhoz", and Avialesookhrana became its operator. The system provides relatively accurate data on forest fire areas, but its statistics do not include steppe, tundra, high-mountain, or any fires that do not affect forests. For example, ISDM-Rosleskhoz does not count stubble burning (harvest residue) as a fire.

Over time, alternatives to official satellite monitoring data began to emerge. For example, in 2018, GIS specialists created a system for volunteer forest firefighters an updated map of peat firesThe authors identified drained bogs using satellite images and created a separate layer with their contours. They overlaid the map with a layer of thermal spots—temperature anomalies recorded daily by satellite sensors and freely accessible. The map is currently being moderated by the Landscape Fire Prevention Center. It helps combat peat fires, but does not provide an estimate of the total number of fires in the country. 

But this could be achieved with a new map of landscape fires in Eastern Europe, launched by the independent conservation project "Earth Touches Everyone" in the spring of 2024. Thanks to artificial intelligence trained by volunteers, the map provides precise data on the area of ​​fires and the type of vegetation burned, taking into account all landscape wildfires. According to independent data, as of May 31, 2024, the area of ​​fires in Russia made 5,3 million hectares.

From 2013 to 2022, the total area of ​​forest loss in Russia—not only from fires but from all causes—was 2,57 million hectares. And in the catastrophic year of 2021, forests perished on an area of ​​only 0,09 million hectares! That's according to official statistics. The discrepancy between the Ministry of Natural Resources' data and scientists' estimates is colossal: 57 times.

Why do fire data vary so much between different sources and who should we believe?

Project expert Alexey Yaroshenko explains.

In short: Official statistics fail to account for many things—for example, forests without a clear legal status. They can also be subject to human error, simply due to inattention. Finally, data can be distorted by attempts to embellish reporting. The ISDM-Rosleskhoz remote forest fire monitoring system provides more accurate data, but it still doesn't capture everything. The Eastern European landscape fire map provides the most detailed information—precisely because human error is completely eliminated here; the system doesn't care about forest status, as fire boundaries are determined using satellite imagery.

Expand expert commentary

Accurately assessing fires is crucial. Budget allocations and the number of firefighting specialists the state deploys depend on damage and scale assessments. The less realistic the estimates, the less likely it is to actually contain the fires.

Why do wildfires actually start?

The causes of Russia's large-scale fires are literally legendary. Some blame spontaneous combustion due to hot weather. Others say the fires are caused by natural causes—"it's always been that way, and it's even good for the forest." Still others admit to starting the fires themselves, but not without reason: to kill ticks and vipers, to promote grass growth, and to prevent a neighbor's fire from spreading into their yard and burning down their house.

All these reasons are myths passed down from generation to generation. They are very competent debunked Volunteer forest firefighters. The reality is this:

It happens due to human fault 9 of 10 fires

Read on to learn more about the real causes of fires.

Click on the card titles to learn more.

Careless handling of fire

Carelessness and disregard for fire safety rules can lead to disaster.

Hooliganism and arson

Adults can set the grass on fire,
because they think it's "useful"
and children - because it's "fun"

Incentives for burning

Owners are being fined for forests on agricultural land and areas not cleared of grass. They find a solution: burning everything.

The use of so-called "controlled" burning

The idea is simple: if you burn everything in the spring, then in the summer there will be nothing left to burn in the burnt areas.

Thunderstorms, meteorites and a volcanic eruption

Yes, there are natural causes of fires, but their share in the overall statistics is small.

The situation is complicated by underfunding of forest protection services. Strategically, we must strive to ensure that the bulk of the funds needed to perform these functions is earned by the forestry sector itself—this is how it is done in most developed countries, and this was the case in Russia until the adoption of the new Forest Code in 2006. The first thing this code did was destroy the economic foundations of forestry, making it entirely dependent on the budget. It is possible to recover this loss, but it will take a long time. For now, there is simply no other option but to finance forest protection and firefighting almost entirely from the budget.

If radical measures aren't taken now, the area of ​​forest fires could double over the next two decades, Yaroshenko believes. We will lose valuable forests and unique forest ecosystems and be forced to live in a more dangerous, smokier, and less healthy world.

What can we do about all this? (Spoiler: not much.)

Simple logic dictates that if 90% of wildfires are caused by humans, then to reduce the number of annual fires by a factor of ten, we simply need to stop setting them. Then, for the remaining fires caused by a handful of natural causes, existing human and financial resources will be more than sufficient. But this isn't so simple, not least because not all fires are caused by malicious intent. Often, the cause is an established, officially approved practice that has been in place for years. Abandoning this practice requires a decision at the ministry level, if not higher, and extensive educational efforts. 

However, there are still some things we can do. Each of us, in our everyday lives.

We asked a neural network to encode a set of these simple actions into posters. Can you guess what each one calls for?

Click on the cards to find out the correct answer.

It may not be within our power to change legislation, stop the current practice, or add money to the budget line. However, We can support those who seek systemic change. - for example, a project "The earth touches everyone" or Landscape Fire Prevention CenterYou can donate, become their volunteer, spread information about them, sign their petitions—for example, petition "Russia on Fire," addressed to Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, environmentalists outlined their proposals for necessary systemic changes. Here's what they propose: 

We talked about them in the previous section. In 2019, the Ministry of Natural Resources approved guidelines for professional burning, strictly regulating such work, but forest plans (the main documents for forest planning in the regions) still contain large volumes of burning, which are not supported in reality by either money or the number of forest firefighters. As a result the adopted standards are not met, Burnings are carried out without proper control. 

In the summer, many fires start in logging areas, clearings, and on logging roads. And here, a widespread practice is... burning of so-called logging residues, wood waste and illiquid timberYou can only burn all this after graduation fire season, but fines and penalties for uncleared logging areas are high, so they burn in the summer as well. 

Burning should be replaced with other methods—recycling where possible, chipping and scattering, and storing in piles for decomposition. Perhaps even waiving such strict requirements for clearing logging sites to avoid encouraging the use of hazardous practices. 

The best solution might be refusal to develop wild forest areas. The need for timber can be met through forest farming. Under current trends, the most valuable areas of Russia's wild forests will be deforested within the next 20-30 years. will be destroyed Fires and industrial logging inevitably follow the onset of forest development, followed by fires for cooking and warming workers, cigarette butts, and sparks from tractors. And after the clearing, mushroom pickers, berry pickers, and hunters begin to arrive along the forest roads. 

Eliminating fines for uncollected waste during logging is one measure that could help combat fires. 

Another measure concerns owners of agricultural lands on which forests grow. Around 30 million hectares of such lands are already bush Forest, and at least 20 million more are in various stages of deforestation. Agricultural land is considered agricultural only in name; it is not used as such because it is essentially no longer suitable for agriculture. 

In many areas, forestry—growing forests specifically for economic and commercial use—could be practically the only way to wisely utilize these forests for farming. This could both generate income for the owner and protect old wild forests from economic development. However, this is currently prohibited under threat of hefty fines and land confiscation. To avoid these penalties, landowners destroy prohibited forests in the most straightforward way possible: by burning them. Since these lands are not designated forest reserves, they are not included in official statistics. Fires there are not suppressed, but they seem to be nonexistent. Allowing forestry on agricultural land is one step that could help combat the fires.

It is obvious that in order to have enough resources, money and people to protect forests from fires, it is necessary to have accurate, reliable and timely information about where, when, why the fires are burning and what damage they cause.

A unified system for recording all landscape fires across all land categories needs to be created. The existing ISDM-Rosleskhoz system could serve as the basis for such a solution. It is important that the data be collected uniformly, accurately, and comparable. And, of course, satellite data should be an integral part of the recording system, so that information on at least all major fires can be easily verified.

Based on such a system, official state statistics on all landscape fires across all land categories should be compiled. Of course, information should not be distorted or concealed. Concealment of information must be investigated, and liability for this is already provided. administrative и criminal by law. 

Peat fires occupy a special place among all landscape fires. They are perhaps surrounded by more myths and legends than any other fire. They are the most protracted, and extinguishing them can take months or even years. These fires destroy the longest-lived of all existing ecosystems—swamps. These fires emit more smoke than a forest fire of the same size, and this smoke is more toxic. 

Drained peatlands are the most common sites of fire. These are mostly remnants of Soviet-era peat mining operations, where fuel was extracted for power plants. The most effective technology for extinguishing and preventing peat fires in drained peatlands could be their re-wetting. In very simple terms, the idea is to prevent water from escaping from the peatland through drainage channels, and where possible, to return the peatland to its normal "wet" state. However, the term "re-wetting" is too general; specific technologies need to be developed for different types of peatlands. Research is already underway, including by Landscape Fire Prevention Center (non-profit organization). 

Lack of funding for fire protection is one of the main obstacles. 

There's a chronic shortage of funds, primarily due to the inadequate understanding of the scale of the problem, which we discussed above, but also due to bureaucratic chaos, where agencies can't always immediately figure out the status of the land that's burning and who's responsible for putting it out.

Adding to the problem is the shrinking of so-called control zones in recent years—remote, inaccessible areas where fires are expensive or impossible to extinguish, and where they are not extinguished, but only monitored from space. This in itself is a good thing, but the number of areas where fires must now be fought is increasing, and additional funding is being allocated for them. very littleAs a result, the fire will be extinguished with the forces that are currently available, and there are already enough of them. I really miss it.

Remember the beginning of our conversation—the countries surrounding the Kaliningrad region? At one time, wildfires also raged in countries neighboring Russia, such as Finland. They were contained. Fires are not a fatal inevitability, as officials sometimes try to make out.

Share this project with others so that spring can come to Russia without smoke and fire.

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Developed by NeMoskva in collaboration with the Earth Touches Everyone project. 

Published July 2024.

The posters were generated by the DALL-E neural network.

There may be a fire in your region too.

High risk of fires in July 2024 in 58 regions, in all federal districts

On projections After two more or less calm years, we are facing a difficult summer and the first half of autumn in terms of fires. Already in July, as warned According to the Avialesookhrana, there is an increased risk of wildfires in 58 regions across all federal districts. Even Arctic territories above the Arctic Circle are at risk.

Wildfires in Siberia. Photo: Yulia Petrenko

With dry, hot weather and little rain, wildfires are expected to grow in size, create more smoke, and make firefighting more difficult due to a shortage of trained personnel and underfunding. 

What if a forest or steppe catches fire behind your fence? It's not always possible to predict this and prepare in time.

People are dying and suffering

From open spaces where grass is burning, fire can come to towns and cities, often unexpectedly and quickly.

Last year, only in Kurgan region, where 60 fires broke out in just a few days, destroying or damaging more than 300 residential buildings and 3,900 structures. And in the Sverdlovsk region 140 houses burned down in Sosva and more 41 in Shaidurikha. 

Last year, at least 29 people died in wildfires across various regions. While this is, of course, incomparable to the number of people who die in household fires, even these fatalities could have been avoided.

Local authorities are promising both payments and new housing to fire victims left homeless. However, even here problems may arise—and with the timing construction, and with quality houses. 

Your city or town could be blanketed in smoke from a fire that's thousands of miles away.

In 2019, smoke from the Siberian fires reached as far as Kazan.

The most horrific year of this century is still considered to be 2010—when smoke from peat fires covered Moscow for several weeks, with carbon monoxide concentrations on some days reaching 6,5 times exceeded PDC, flights from airports were cancelled, and mortality was due to smog and heat increased one and a half times.

When smoke reaches the capital, everyone immediately starts writing about it. But every year, many other cities—Yakutsk, Krasnoyarsk, Kurgan, Novosibirsk, Bratsk, Chita—and countless villages suffer from smoke from fires. It's just that the local press mostly reports on this, while the rest of the country knows nothing. But in 2019, smoke from the Siberian fires arrived all the way to Kazan, covering the road and cities beyond the Urals, and once again it became clear that the fire could be “somewhere out there,” but it could touch us at home, thousands of kilometers away from the fire.

Forests are dying

Along with them, we are losing not only our national heritage, but also protection from climate change and floods.

We'll talk about climate change later. Regarding floods:The point is that the forest acts like a sponge, retaining moisture in the soil through litter (dead plant parts that fall to the ground), mosses, lichens, and dead wood, explains our expert, Alexey Yaroshenko. When this forest floor is destroyed by fire or clear-cutting, moisture ceases to accumulate in the soil, and rainwater flows freely down the slopes into rivers and streams, virtually unabsorbed.

Over the past ten years, forest fires in Russia have destroyed more than 22 million hectares of forest. And fires destroy far more trees than logging. According to According to scientists, the average area of ​​forests lost to fire is approximately 2,26 million hectares per year, and the area of ​​all types of clear-cutting in Russia is approximately 1,3 million. 

Animals are dying

And even if they escape the fire, they die of hunger because their habitat is destroyed.

More often perish Sedentary and burrowing animals, small animals like gophers and hedgehogs. Birds' nests and young burn, especially if they build their nests on the ground in bushes. 

But even if they escape the fire, animals can die of starvation—their habitat is destroyed, they have nowhere to live, and nothing to eat. For example, a tigress with her cubs is doomed to starve—her "food" will quickly disappear from the burned-out lands, and the mother and her cubs won't be able to keep up. That's why, after fires, people are increasingly turning to animals. come out bears and other animals. 

There are no reliable statistics on how many wild animals die in wildfires in Russia. Similar estimates were made in Australia during the catastrophic fires of 2019. perished three billion animals, and we're not talking about insects. In Russia, you can hear statements Officials claim that no large animals were killed by the fires, even though the fires engulfed an area of ​​nearly two million hectares. This is unlikely, and in any case, it's unclear what the officials' confidence is based on.

There are some statistics on pets. In 2019, for example, in Transbaikal, according to one estimate, burned out about 14 thousand animals.

Finally, wildfires are further heating up an already hot planet.

This creates conditions for even more intense fires – and we find ourselves in a vicious circle.

Yes, we're talking about the climate crisis. And the fact that many people are tired of the topic doesn't make the problem any less real. 

Forest and especially peat fires contribute to the The planet is warming due to massive carbon emissions. Burned forests stop absorbing carbon. Permafrost melts, releasing greenhouse gases—carbon dioxide and methane—into the atmosphere. As a result of burning, soot settles on the Arctic ice, causing the ice to melt more rapidly. Overheating of the planet leads to droughts. heat waves, and a lack of precipitation. This creates conditions for even more intense fires, which further lead to climate change. 

On According to According to one of many studies, each of the last 12 months, from June 2023 to May 2024, was the hottest on record.

Global temperature chart (1851-2020). Author: Climate Data Specialist Neil R. Kay shows how average monthly temperatures have changed over almost 170 years. Modern values ​​were compared with pre-industrial averages (1850–1900).

Alexey Yaroshenko, PhD in biology and expert on the forestry program for the "Earth Touches Everyone" project:

— The main source of official statistical information on forest fires is the Unified Interdepartmental Information and Statistical System (EMISS). Statistics are collected by region quarterly, that is, four times a year, and published on the 35th business day after the reporting period. This one-and-a-half-month delay is due to the need to verify, clarify, and correct the data. There are three most important indicators: the area of ​​forest fires on forest fund lands and on other land categories (in hectares) and the volume of burned forest stands (in cubic meters of timber).

В Official forest fire statistics do not include fires in forests that do not have a clear legal status. — for example, in forests that have grown independently on abandoned agricultural lands, reserve lands and some other categories of land, or in some part of the former collective and state farm forests that were “lost” during the forest reforms of the last quarter century. Also in it there may be errors and distortions, associated with the human factor - inattention or the desire to artificially embellish reporting. However, it is precisely key management decisions are made based on this information, related to the protection of forests from fire, and the work of forestry organizations is assessed.

The main source of remote data on forest fires in Russia is the remote monitoring information system ISDM-RosleskhozThe system was developed primarily by specialists from the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and its operator is Avialesookhrana, an agency subordinate to the Federal Forestry Agency.

Although this system is created and managed by the state, its data is not considered official statistical information; rather, it is a scientific product. To monitor fires, ISDM-Rosleskhoz uses all available data from specialized satellites, both foreign and Russian. Rapid detection and determination of fire parameters are based on so-called "thermopoints"—temperature anomalies recorded by satellites. Thanks to the large number of satellites, the data is updated multiple times per day. This data is used to create both fire maps and summary tables summarizing data by day and region. Some ISDM data is publicly available, while others are restricted. Publicly available there is a map and summary data since the beginning of the year, but information about the current situation is limited.

Concerning Eastern European landscape fire maps This is the most detailed data because it reflects not temperature anomalies, but areas affected by fire, with burnt or damaged vegetation. The fire boundaries on the map are determined using satellite images from the European Space Agency's Sentinel-2 satellites. The high resolution of these images allows for the fire-affected areas to be delineated with very high accuracy. 

The drawback of this approach is its low operational efficiency. At our latitudes, each area of ​​the Earth is imaged approximately twice every five days, but the intervals between available cloud- and smoke-free images can be weeks. This map doesn't allow for a rapid response to fires to extinguish them, however. more than suitable for obtaining an adequate analysis of the situation in the country for a certain period and make decisions that will help avoid a fire disaster in the future. 

The first reason is the most banal and the most common: careless handling of fire.

Carelessness and disregard for fire safety rules can lead to disaster.

Smoldering cigarette butts, like сообщает According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, forest fires are one of the most common causes of wildfires. Forest fires can also be started by leaving rags and cloths soaked in oil or gasoline there—they ignite from the slightest ignition source. Leaving glassware behind can focus the sun's rays on sunny days and ignite dry vegetation. And, of course, a small fire can escape into the forest from a campfire, potentially escalating into a major conflagration. 

Public service announcement: "The forest is not an ashtray! Put out your cigarette."

Reason three: legislative incentives for burning areas

Landowners are being fined for forests on agricultural land and areas not cleared of dry grass. They take the easiest route—burning.

So, from 2022, by government decision, forests will grow on unused agricultural land smokingThe landowner may be subject to a large fine (up to 50 rubles for individuals and up to 700 rubles for legal entities).), and the land plot will be confiscated. The easiest way to avoid punishment is to burn all the young tree growth. 

Since 2022 they have become impose stronger fines and for untimely removal of dry grass from the areas. Regularly mowing and clearing grass is difficult and expensive, and not everyone can handle it, especially if the property is large or if the owner is a pensioner. Failure to do so can result in a fine of up to 15 rubles for individuals during non-fire season and up to 20 rubles during special fire safety regulations, while businesses face fines of up to 400 and 800 rubles, respectively. What's the easiest way? The answer is obvious: burn it secretly. 

Maximum fines for legal entities

700 000 rub.

for forests on agricultural land

800 000 rub.

for untimely removal of dry grass from the site

Loggers also regularly use fire to clear logging sites of slash and burn debris. This can only be done during the non-fire season—winter or fall—when setting fire to anything is difficult. However, leaving logging sites uncleared also carries a hefty fine, so loggers take a risk and also burn slash and burn debris in the summer, when the risk of a major fire is highest. 

Reason four is the use of so-called “controlled” burns

The idea is simple: if you burn everything in the spring, then in the summer there will be nothing left to burn in the burnt areas.

Often, forestry and firefighting officials themselves burn dry grass, even though they should be fighting this practice, notes Alexey Yaroshenko. This is called preventative controlled burning. The idea is simple: burn everything in the spring, before it's too hot or too dry, and the fire can be kept under control. This way, there will be nothing left to burn in the summer, at least in the burned areas. 

In practice, there's almost never a shortage of specialists and equipment to safely conduct such burns, so fires often get out of control, and professional burns often turn into ordinary landscape fires. Furthermore, for them to accomplish their intended purpose—reducing the volume of combustible materials—they'd have to burn more than the amount that would naturally burn. 

«Imagine: on average, forest fires in Russia consume about 100 million cubic meters of wood per year. And as a preventative measure, to ensure there's nothing left to burn, seven times that amount—about 700 million—would need to be burned each year.», - Alexey Yaroshenko explains.

Last year, Rosleskhoz announced moratorium for spring professional burning, but many Siberian and Far Eastern regions ignoredThere was no such moratorium in 2024.

Besides the dangers of professional fires, they're also powerful advertising: when ordinary residents see people in uniform setting grass on fire, it's difficult to explain to them why they can't use the same method to get rid of trash, clean up their gardens or cemeteries, or simply set the grass on fire to watch it burn. 

Reason number five: dry thunderstorms, meteorite falls, and volcanic eruptions

Yes, there are natural causes of fires, but their share in the overall statistics is small.

Fires caused by dry thunderstorms account for no more than 10% of all fires. Also, natural causes, according to researchA meteorite fall or a volcanic eruption could be a potential disaster, but the risk of such a development is close to zero.

A dry thunderstorm in Australia in January 2013 sparked a series of fires across the country's west. Photo: Bidgee (Wikiquote)

Do not throw unextinguished cigarette butts into the grass or throw them out of your car window, especially when you're sitting on the right. Get yourself a pocket ashtray if you smoke—they're sold in tobacco shops. Every year, in the midst of a dry, hot summer, it's precisely because of lit cigarette butts arise large fires.

Extinguish a fire properly. You need to pour water on it, then stir the wet coals and check with your hand if they've cooled. Literally: touch them. If you can't touch them, they haven't extinguished the fire; keep pouring.

Also, avoid building fires in dense thickets or among young conifers, under low-hanging branches, near timber or peat storage areas, or near mature crops. Avoid building fires in windy weather and do not leave them unattended. 

Do not make fires on peat bogs. Never. If the soil resembles seedling soil—brown, loose, soft—know this: that's it. It won't help, even if you take every precaution. The soil here is peat, and a fire on peat easily ignites the top layer of soil. 

Observe restrictions, if a special fire safety regime has been declared in the region. This means temporarily foregoing forest walks, campfires, and burning trash at your dacha. These restrictions aren't a whim. You might think you have everything under control, but the wind could change suddenly, and you won't have time to do anything. 

Become a volunteer forest firefighter or help this movement. Typically, such groups ariseWhen a critical situation arises where they live and help is needed, people of all ages and backgrounds join forces to fight wildfires and respond to fires alongside professional firefighters, assisting them with firefighting, water supply, transportation, and other activities. And if they decide to continue their work, they purchase protective clothing, equipment, and receive training. As a result, many of these groups effectively work on a par with professionals, only on a voluntary basis. 

Many groups already have well-established relationships with local fire departments, the Avialesookhrana (Aircraft Forest Protection Agency), the Ministry of Emergency Situations, and with protected natural area agencies. And, of course, with each other. When their region is calm, volunteers travel to the fires and help each other. There are currently over 20 such groups in Russia. You can join an existing one, create your own, or support the movement with donations. 

Members of the movement not only extinguish fires but also try to prevent them. For example, they conduct awareness-raising activities in schools and businesses, or patrol the area. For example, in the skerries of Lake Ladoga, fires are often started by tourists. The Society of Volunteer Forest Firefighters sets up a camp there every summer—people go out on patrol and put out fires if they start. 

Each group has a page on social media, and there is also a volunteer website. dlpinfo.org, where you will find all the information you need.