Khabarovsk Region Still Swept By Forest Fires

Twelve forest fires, including eight large ones, have been registered in the Khabarovsk Region (Russia's Far East). The total area of burning forests now stands at 10,042 hectares, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Natural Resources told RIA Novosti on Thursday. The head of the press service of the ministry's Natural Resources Department, Marina Chesalina, said, at the same time, that the number of forest fires has been decreasing. Several groups of forest rangers and fire-fighting specialists are returning to their bases. Nevertheless, she said, the situation remains tense in mountainous areas near the town of Sovetskaya Gavan on the coast of the Tatar Strait, to which heavy vehicles cannot be delivered. Fire-fighting teams have to deliver water by helicopters. In other regions of Russia's Far East - the Jewish Autonomous Republic, the Sakhalin Region and the Maritime Territory - 14 forest fires have been registered as of today, Chesalina said.