In the Rostov region, special attention is paid to ensuring fire safety during the harvest season

In the Don government, on behalf of the Governor of the Rostov region Vasily Golubev, an unscheduled meeting of the commission for the prevention and elimination of emergencies and fire safety was held. A number of important issues were considered at the event, which was held by the deputy head of the Don region Vadim Artemov.
The main topic for discussion was the issue of ensuring fire safety on agricultural land during the preparation and passage of the harvesting campaign.
“Don agrarians are planning to start harvesting grains and legumes in the near future, and traditionally it takes place until the first or second decade of August, then the harvesting of industrial crops continues,” said Konstantin Rachalovsky, Minister of Agriculture and Food of the region. - During the harvest period, the risks of fires in the fields increase to the maximum. In this regard, every year on the eve of and during the cleaning work, special attention is paid to the issue of ensuring fire safety.”
The head of the Don Ministry of Agriculture and Food noted that the ongoing work has brought the first positive results. So, if in 2020 9 fires (329 hectares) were registered in the fields, then last year 4 fires were recorded on an area of ​​10.9 hectares. For the period April-May 2022, no “thermal points” were recorded in the region on agricultural lands and objects of the agro-industrial complex.
In addition, Konstantin Rachalovsky recalled that it is necessary to use technologies for the disposal of plant residues that exclude their fire treatment.
“Violators can be “punished with a ruble”, since non-compliance with the ban
on burning dry grassy vegetation on agricultural land leads to the loss of state support,” summed up the agrarian minister.
For his part, Igor Tyagnenko, Deputy Head of the Supervisory Activities and Preventive Work Department of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia for the Rostov Region, supplemented the information, presented an analysis of the causes of fires in the fields of grain crops for 2021-2020. He reported that out of 13 registered fires, 56% (7 fires) resulted from the spread of flame over dry vegetation from the territory immediately adjacent to the grain arrays, and 30% (4 fires) occurred due to careless handling of fire. The reason was a carelessly thrown cigarette butt, bringing in a source, an open flame, as well as carrying out fire hazardous work to repair and refuel equipment directly on the field.
Vadim Artemov, summing up the consideration of the first issue, instructed the chairmen of the municipal emergency commissions to ensure mandatory control over compliance with fire safety requirements before starting harvesting work and, during the harvest, organize systematic preventive detours by patrol groups of agricultural fields in order to control the technical condition and equipping with primary means firefighting cleaning equipment. He also recalled that persons who illegally burn dry vegetation and crop residues, as well as owners and tenants of land plots who did not ensure the adoption of fire safety measures, were brought to administrative responsibility.
“First of all, I would like to remind everyone that a special fire regime has been introduced in the region from April 28 to October 16,” the Deputy Don Governor emphasized. - Also, we all understand that no one is interested in the destruction of the crop - this directly entails serious economic losses, because fire can destroy the fruits of the hard work of many people. Therefore, today, on the eve of the harvesting campaign, and during its implementation, all responsible persons and services should make every effort to ensure fire safety on agricultural lands.”