Only three wildfires remain burning on 624 hectares in Russia's Far East, as Itar-Tass reported. On Friday morning, 600 ha were afire in the Komsomolsky nature preserve in the Khabarovsk Territory, and there were two fires on 24 ha in Yakutia. There are no other outbreaks in the Far East Federal District, a source at the district's forestry department told Itar-Tass. Since the beginning of the season, 1,197 fires have been reported in the Far East. Ablaze were 434,200 ha, including 365,500 ha in Yakutia. The federal forestry service Rosleskhoz pays particular attention to the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), which was most severely hit by wildfires in eastern Russia. Measures are taken to prevent new outbreaks. Rosleskhoz chief Viktor Maslyakov met with Sakha's Prime Minister Galina Danchikova in Moscow on Thursday to discuss Yakutia's proposals to ensure protection of forests and aid for the republic, a Sakha government source told Itar-Tass. Additional 50 million rubles are provided for Yakutia in June this year for air patrolling and fire fighting. The financing is expected to be increased in 2012. Rosleskhoz also plans to open a branch of the Buryatian centre of the Federal Forest Protection Agency in Yakutsk by September.
