The authorities blocked the Samara-Tolyatti federal highway due to a forest fire that broke out on the night of Friday, September 3. As Interfax reports with reference to the Ministry of Emergency Situations in the Samara Region, the fire has already engulfed 200 hectares of forest near Tolyatti.

“All Togliatti and Samara firefighters have been mobilized,” the press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations told the agency. It is noted that the situation is rapidly deteriorating due to strong winds, which contribute to the rapid spread of the flames.

“So far there is no direct threat to populated areas. The situation is complicated, the fire has reached the road along which there are gas stations and other road facilities,” said Mikhail Metelkin, head of the press service of the regional Ministry of Emergency Situations.

The fire continues to rage in the Volgograd region. On Thursday, about 400 residential buildings there were damaged to varying degrees by wildfires. The death toll is two people, 19 were hospitalized, 745 were evacuated. A state of emergency has been introduced in the region, reports RIA Novosti .

Natural fires have been burning in the European part of Russia since July. Only at the end of August - simultaneously with the cold snap that came to the region after two months of abnormal heat - was it possible to cope with the elements.

Severe fires were observed in 22 regions of the Russian Federation. There were about 30,000 wildfires covering a total area of almost 1 million hectares. As a result of the disaster, more than 50 people died and about 2,500 houses burned down. The fire also approached nuclear centers located in Sarov (Nizhny Novgorod region) and Snezhinsk (Chelyabinsk region), but they were defended.

Due to the difficult fire situation in seven regions - Nizhny Novgorod, Voronezh, Vladimir, Moscow and Ryazan regions, in the republics of Mari El and Mordovia - a state of emergency was introduced.

200 hectares of forest are burning near Tolyatti