One man's carelessness causes 'fire tornado' which destroys 59 houses, another avoidable blaze razes 17 homes, as state of emergency called.
Recent reports showed 89 wildfires in Siberia and 25 in the Russian Far East as a new season of damage to forests gets underway.
Forest infernos will be extinguished by the weekend, pledges government, as wildfires become political issue in Moscow.
After a month of warm, dry weather and wildfires, the huge crater nicknamed ‘Mouth of Hell’ is now under direct threat.
230 wildfires rage in Russia’s coldest republic of Yakutia, with state of emergency declared in Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk regions.
Fires have wreaked havoc this summer with Yakutia and the Yamalo-Nenets autonomous the latest to be hard hit.
Yakutsk, currently hosting the Children of Asia International sports games was forced to halt arrivals and departures.
Roads blocked, planes diverted due to low visibility, schools shut, people advised to stay home.
Greenpeace claim authorities underestimate the scale of destruction, amid warnings of lack of resources to fight fires.
Premier Dmitry Medvedev warned it will take two to three weeks to extinguish the fires raging across Siberia.