A ban on visiting forests has begun to be introduced in the Vitebsk region

August 3, Vitebsk / Olga Bogacheva - BELTA /. Forests in the Vitebsk region have begun to be closed to public access, the Vitebsk Regional Production Forestry Association informed a BELTA correspondent. Lepel district was the first in the region to close its forests for visits. Currently, Sharkovshchyna, Glubokoe, Senno, Dubrovno, Orsha, and Vitebsk districts are preparing to make a similar decision. "A fire hazard class of 4 has been established in these regions," the Forestry Association emphasized, urging the public to refrain from visiting forests for the time being. In case of detecting fires, the Forestry Association asks to report them to the nearest forestry enterprises, to the hotline of the Forestry Association at 8-0212-24-34-18, or to the operational service phones of the Department of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Emergency Situations. A fire hazard class of 3 is currently observed in Verkhnedvinsk, Gorodok, Polotsk, Dokshitsy, and Postavy districts. Restrictions on forest visits are also possible here in the near future. Given the deteriorating situation, the Forestry Association has decided to intensify patrolling of the forest fund, mark entrances with special signs prohibiting visits, close barriers, and conduct daily double aerial surveys of forests. In addition, preliminary work on interaction and exchange of operational information with the relevant departments of the Smolensk region of Russia was carried out in the spring within the framework of cooperation on forest fire prevention. In total, since the beginning of the fire hazard period (April 30) this year, 17 forest fires have occurred in the Vitebsk region, covering an area of 2.62 hectares. 32 people have been brought to administrative responsibility with fines for lighting fires in forests and violating fire safety requirements in forests and peatlands.