Hot weather has caused conflagrations in meadows in North Ossetia.
Fire has covered mountains by the Trans-Caucasus highway and Alagir
Gorge is covered in smoke, Yuga.ru reports.
The largest fire covers 20 hectares on the left bank of the River
Ardon near the village of Bis. There are fires on the right bank of
the river as well. Specialists say that the fire was caused by dry
grass and the human factor.
The fires do not threaten villages or infrastructure, but specialists
from three regions are putting them out. The mountainous regions
severely hamper use of special technical equipment. The administration
of Alagir Region fears forest fires. They have prepared fire-fighting
groups and staff from the Emergencies Ministry.
The head of the hydro-meteorological center of North Ossetia, Lidya
Valiyeva, says that November and December were exceptionally hot this
year. The air temperature at night was hardly below 0 C and
temperatures hit 10-15 C at day. There has been little rain and snow.
Meteorological forecasts do not predict cooling at the end of this
year or the start of next year, ITAR-TASS reports.
