The Legislative Duma of Tomsk Oblast
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Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev arrived in Tomsk by train to hold a forest fire consequences management meeting
That was Mr. Medvedev’s first railway tour across the Siberian Federal District as Prime Minister.
According to a government source the tour was planned long ago and the visit to Tomsk was not on the agenda. However, given the emergency situation in the region which was announced a month ago because of the forest fires it was decided to change the route and call on Tomsk.
Dmitry Medvedev met with the Governor of Tomsk Oblast Sergey Zhvachkin and opened the meeting dedicated to the forest fire situation in the region, calling it “absolutely abnormal”.
“Tomsk has found itself in the center of Siberian fires, although the situation is better now than it was a week ago when we had a teleconference meeting. This summer turned out to be absolutely abnormal for droughts and heat in the Far East, the Urals and Siberia”, said Dmitry Medvedev.
The Prime Minister made a point that he gave orders to take additional actions to pay to the regions the federal government’s firefighting debts from the previous year. Besides, additional money shall be allocated from the federal budget to increase the headcount of smokejumpers.
During his visit Dmitry Medvedev visited the Fifth Department of the Federal Fire Service in the region.
He was informed that the department has 66 firefighters and protects 74 objects in Tomsk, including Tomsk Polytechnic University and Power Plant No. 2. For the first six months of 2012 the firefighters performed 76 firefighting operations and saved 47 people.
According to the head of the department, it takes the firefighters 43 seconds to get to the site of fire once the message arrives.
The Prime Minister was shown a breathing apparatus control system and informed that 7,500 volunteers are involved in the firefighting operations in the region.
Closing the meeting on the forest fire situation in Siberia Dmitry Medvedev called upon the regional authorities to be on the alert and promised to consider compensating the regions for their firefighting expenses.
© The State Duma of the Tomsk oblast, 2007-2024