Firefighters battle 23 wildfires in Russian Far East

Firefighters have extinguished eight wildfires in the Russian Far East in the past twenty-four hours and are still battling 23 forest fires in the area, a spokesman for the emergencies ministry's local department said on Friday. "Forty one forest fires covering an area of 1,334 hectares were registered in the Far East over the past 24 hours. Eight of the forest fires were extinguished, 10 localized and 23 of them are still burning," the spokesman said. Some 500 people and 73 units of rescue hardware, including 16 aircraft, are involved in the firefighting effort, he added. Russia is trying to prevent the developments of last summer, when an enormous heat wave in the country's European part caused massive wildfires, which killed 62 people and left thousands homeless. Wildfires in forested regions of Russia are common during the dry and hot summer season. Most of the time, the fires start because of the careless behavior of local residents in the woods.