Wildfires In Russia’s Siberia Might Put Power Facility In Jeopardy

MOSCOW — Local officials reported a huge wildfire in Russia’s Siberia region was blazing near a settlement and presenting a danger to a hydroelectric power station on Monday.

On Monday morning, the Sakha-Yakutia area of northern Siberia’s Ministry of Natural Resources reported that 216 forest fires were still burning. More than 60 cities, towns, and villages, including the regional capital Yakutsk, were blanketed in thick smoke.

According to the government, one conflagration that had already devoured 41,300 hectares (102,000 acres) was only four kilometers from the village of Syuldyukar. The town is roughly 20 kilometers distant from a hydroelectric power facility, according to the report.

The firefighting activities in the area have enlisted the help of almost 2,000 individuals.

Russia has been ravaged by forest fires, which have been blamed on exceptionally high temperatures and a disregard for fire safety regulations.

Because of the smoke-filled sky, the airport in Yakutsk stopped flights into and out of the city on Sunday, but it reopened on Monday.