Authorities in the Siberian republic of Buryatia on Tuesday declared a regionwide state of emergency as firefighters continued to battle rapidly spreading wildfires blamed on human activity.
Buryatia, which borders Mongolia, is the second-hardest hit region in Russia during this year’s wildfire season, with some 53,000 hectares (131,000 acres) currently burning. Only the neighboring Zabaikalsky region has seen more damage, accounting for nearly 90% of all wildfires nationwide.
The Zabaikalsky region has been under a federal-level emergency since last month.
Buryatia’s branch of the Federal Forestry Agency banned public access to the region’s forests during the state of emergency, saying “more than 90%” of the 174 fires reported since spring were caused by human carelessness.
Authorities also prohbited grass burning, trash burning and cooking over open flames, warning that strong winds forecasted for this week could worsen the wildfire situation in the region.
The Buryatia regional government said the state of emergency declaration would allow firefighters to deploy additional personnel and equipment.
Experts have attributed most of Russia’s wildfires this year to human activity, such as dry grass burning near villages. Other contributing factors include a lack of snow cover and an early spring.
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