Incineration of garbage in the country, especially during the period when a fire-fighting regime is established, can lead to large fires and “dozens” of burned houses, Alexander Chupriyan, acting head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, warned in an interview with RBC.
“When a special fire protection regime is established, it means a high level of precaution. And if you burned garbage at your dacha before a special regime and continue to do it with it, then the meaning is lost. I can give you dozens, hundreds of examples when dozens of houses burn down because of harmless brushwood, dry grass,” he explained.
The head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations stressed that fire aviation, including Be-200 amphibious aircraft, cannot participate in extinguishing “every house.” “Initially, a summer resident should be aware of his responsibility,” Chupriyan summed up.
In general , in Russia has the strength and means to fight forest fires, he noted. However, the legislative framework in this area is still not regulated. “Now, according to the law, we must protect only settlements and economic facilities, but at the same time it is well known that the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia is the most active participant in the fight against forest fires,” Chupriyan explained. – Here life comes into some kind of contradiction with the current legislation.”
Last spring, a difficult situation with forest fires was observed in the Far Eastern, Siberian and Southern Federal Districts. In May, a special fire protection regime was introduced in 60 regions of the country.
The then head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations Yevgeny Zinichev said that the cause of severe forest fires was the regime of general self-isolation in Of Russia. It was introduced in connection with the spread of COVID-19. Against the background of the current situation with forest fires, Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the government to toughen penalties for violations of safety requirements that led to the occurrence of natural fires.
In February of this year, the State Duma proposed to increase fines for forest fires tenfold. The authors of the bill said that this would increase the responsibility of citizens and reduce the number of fires. Last month, the State Duma Committee on State Construction and Legislation recommended the adoption in the first reading of a bill increasing fines by 10 times for citizens who violate fire safety requirements in forests.
According to the bill, violation of fire safety rules in forests will entail a fine:
- for citizens in the amount of 15 thousand to 30 thousand rubles. (now from 1.5 thousand to 3 thousand rubles.);
- for officials, the fine will be from 20 thousand to 40 thousand rubles. (now from 10 thousand to 20 thousand rubles.);
- for legal entities – from 100 thousand to 400 thousand rubles. (now from 50 thousand to 200 thousand rubles.).