Fire rages in area of future gas pipeline on Sakhalin

The fire in the area of future oil and gas pipeline in the central part of Sakhalin (a Russian island in the Pacific Ocean) is raging for the fourth day now. A spokesman for the regional administration told RIA Novosti on Friday that fire had swept a cutting in the forest of one and a half hectares near a peat-bog.

The firemen were brought to the place by air on Friday to extinguish the fire, which had arisen as a result of setting on fire the cut down trees in the area. They prevented the fire from spreading to the rest of the forest. But in order to finally extinguish the fire it is necessary to make a special mineralized cutting in the forest. However, this can be done only with the help of caterpillar tractors.

For a whole week now a high level of a fire danger has existed in the Sakhalin forests. The regional emergency situations commission proposed that the companies engaged in the construction of the oil and gas pipeline should conclude agreements on air fire reconnaissance of the area of the future pipeline. However, the companies refused to do this.

The oil and gas pipeline is being built within the framework of the Sakhalin-2 project (this joint venture provides for extracting hydrocarbon raw materials on the shelf of the island). The length of the pipeline from the south to the north will amount to more than 800 kilometres.

The pipeline will cross the taiga forests and a thousand spawning rivers and brooks.