Penza, 12 April 2016. PenzaNews. The Penza region has announced the fire season in its territory starting from Friday, April 15, as per the decree signed by Alexander Moskvin, regional Minister of Forestry, Hunting and Natural Resources.

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“In accordance with the fire safety rules, after the forest snow thaws, it is forbidden in forests to: make fires in unapproved locations, throw away burning matches, cigarette butts, embers or glass, use flammable or close-burning materials as wads when hunting, leave unattended materials treated with oil, kerosene, fuel or other flammable materials,” the press service of the Ministry of Forestry, Hunting and Natural Resources informed PenzaNews.

Violation of the fire safety rules may result in not just fines, but criminal liability and a prison term, they pointed out.

“Also, the Penza region forest fire center is instructed to ensure full readiness of fire suppression chemical stations, initiate the early fire detection systems in Leninsky and Bolshevyassky forestries, and make sure that the fire dispatches are able to timely react to any fire reports and that the firefighting measures are taken in full,” the press service added.

The Forestry Ministry added that any fires noticed by forests must be immediately reported to the Ministry’s dispatcher service at +7 (8412) 62-84-50 or to the direct forest protection hotline at 8-800-100-94-00.

As PenzaNews reported earlier, The Penza region EMERCOM dispatches had to deal with as many as 78 fire reports only over the recent weekend, April 9-10, including 68 cases of grass surface fires.

According to Anna Shupilova, Anna Shupilova, head of information and public relations division of the main EMERCOM department in the region, uncontrolled burning of grass led to a big fire on Monday, April 11, that incinerated two houses in the Pobochinskiye dachas zone and a large patch of land in the Zarya residential area.