10 August 2010
Belarusian firefighters battling wildfires in Ryazan Oblast
MOSCOW, 10 August (BelTA) – Belarusian firefighters are tackling blazes in one of the most fire-hazardous regions of Russia, BelTA has learnt. According to the Emergencies Ministry of Russia, at present there are 14 blazes in Ryazan Oblast, with seven of them not yet localized. The total area of wildfires is 3,800 hectares. The fires destroyed 269 houses, killed eight people and left 737 homeless. Belarus’ firefighting relief mission sent to Russia includes 25 special-purpose vehicles and 150 rescue workers. Belarusian firefighters have so far put out 28 forest and four peat fires on the area of 25 hectares. Apart from Ryazan Oblast, wildfires are raging in Moscow and Nizhniy Novgorod Oblasts. At the same time the situation in the central part of the country has improved. According to the Emergencies Ministry of Russia, fires have been almost put out in Tula, Tambov, Belgorod, Lipetsk, Ivanovo and Ulyanovsk Oblasts as well as in Tatarstan. The situation also got better in Mordovia and Mari El Republic.БЕЛТА