The many fires underway in the Krasnoïar region, in eastern Siberia, have killed a dozen. These fires, sources of significant pollution, ravage this region for several years.
Le Monde with AFP
Scientists call them “zombie fires”. These forest fires which seem to resuscitate from the dead, which convent under the snow during the icy winters, before leaving on the surface in the spring. Aggravated by strong winds, many fires are underway in the region of Krasnoïarsk, in eastern Siberia.
These fires, which affect hundreds of buildings, left a dozen deaths, reported local authorities on Saturday May 7. Qualifying the situation of “difficult”, the regional authorities have established the state of emergency.
In the Krasnoïarsk region, where the state of emergency was established, more than 450 houses were affected and at least five people died, local authorities reported. There are at least seventeen injured, including ten hospitalized. In Kemerovo’s Oblast, three people were found dead in a burned house and a criminal investigation was opened. In the Omsk region, there are two dead and eight injured.
According to the authorities, around three hundred people and more than ninety vehicles are mobilized to extinguish fires. “The extinction is complicated by the weather conditions – violent winds accelerate the spread of fires and prevent the end of it,” the ministry of emergency situations of the Krasnoïarsk region said. Due to the wind, the fight against the flames can only be done on the ground, without recourse to aviation.
very polluting lights
After having held an emergency meeting, the governor of the region, Alexandre Ourss, said in a statement that the fires had been caused by winds reaching in certain regions 40 meters per second against 25 meters per second planned. This wind would have caused “trees, rides and falls of electric lines”, following which “fires have declared themselves simultaneously in many areas of the Krasnoïar territory”.
It is expected that the winds retain this intensity for “at least four to six hours,” reports the governor’s office. “We have asked for help from our neighboring territories but we are aware that this will not happen in the best of cases than in a few hours,” said Mr. Oarss.
“I have given the order to cut electricity on part of the region of the region, with the exception of survival facilities, service stations and water supply systems”, a- he added. In the most affected areas, “temporary accommodation points will be open and people will benefit from medical and psychological assistance”.
Unprecedented fires have been ravaging Siberia for several years. While the Arctic warms up at a pace more than twice the rest of the world, the rise in temperatures could lead to an increase in winter fires in the future.
This phenomenon is all the more disturbing since the arctic regions contain a lot of carbon, in the forests, in the soils and in permafrost, these soils frozen permanently. In 2021, fires, especially in eastern Siberia, released 16 million tonnes of carbon (fourth highest volume since the start of measures in 2003), according to the annual European climate report. In 2020, fires throughout the Arctic Circle issued 244 million tonnes of equivalent co 2 , the equivalent of the annual emissions of Spain.