On behalf of the President of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), Aisen Nikolaev, the An-26 Atmosphere drilling aircraft of the Yakut airline Polar Airlines flew to work in the Ust-Maisky district on the border of the Khabarovsk Territory. The press service of the president of the republic and his government reported that the plane had to cause artificial precipitation to eliminate forest fires.
According to Dmitry Lepchikov, Chairman of the State Committee for the Safety of the Population of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the territory of the region belongs to regions with a lack of precipitation.
“The annual total numbers are extremely low, so there is an increase in the fire hazard in the regions during the summer months. After the siren works along the rain front, the fires get colder and smaller,” Lepchikov explained.
He noted that a clear example of the effectiveness of the Siren in firefighting is the elimination of fires in the Momsky, Verkhnekolymsky and Srednekolymsky districts of the republic in July. He also added that the fire situation in the Ust-Maisky district has been improved.
The press service of the president and government of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) states that in addition to the An-26 of Polar Airlines, 2 more sirens are included in the fire season.
Thus, the Yak-40 aircraft of the Central Aeroological Observatory (Roshidromet), working for a certain period under a contract with the Yakutia Rescue Service, caused artificial precipitation. Additionally, from mid-July to early August, the Avialesookhrana FBI’s An-26 Cyclone drill plane took to the skies. The plane took off to extinguish 24 fires in Aldan, Amginsky, Neryungrinsky and Ust-Maysky districts.