A cloud of thick smoke in the Lena Pillars (Lenskiye Stolby) Nature Park in Siberia is preventing a helitack crew from flying to a wildfire, Arkady Semyonov, the head of the park, told Sputnik
YAKUTSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th July, 2021) A cloud of thick smoke in the Lena Pillars (Lenskiye Stolby) Nature Park in Siberia is preventing a helitack crew from flying to a wildfire, Arkady Semyonov, the head of the park, told Sputnik.
On Saturday, over 200 firefighters from five Russian regions were deployed to the area. The Lena Pillars has had eleven cases of wildfire on its territory since the fire season began. Seven of them have been put out. At the moment, an area of 23,350 hectares (57,699 acres) is burning.
"The areas and the number of wildfires in the national park remain at the same level. The problem is that for four straight days the thick smoke in the national park does not let [us] airlift firefighters by Mi-8 helicopters," Semyonov said.
The park director added that the crews are waiting for rain, which is expected tomorrow or the day after.
The Lena Pillars park is on UNESCO's World Heritage List. The park is famous for its spectacular limestone pillars, up to 300 meters high, towering along the banks of the Lena River.
