Although the situation has improved, as weather conditions have become colder and wetter, children have to be evacuated temporarily when calm conditions and high levels of smoke make breathing difficult. The Sakhalin Administration also reported that in several areas oil wells were shut down and sealed before the fires reached them. Local authorities are concerned about what can be done for the large areas of sterilised forest area. Access to remote sites is difficult and expensive, and restoration work for damaged timber resources will be extremely expensive. This is worsened in the case of Sakhalin because they rely almost entirely on foreign exports to the South and East Asia region.
Ecological impacts are likely to be significant also.
The fires are still burning and causing damage, but unless weather conditions become hot and dry again, it is likely that the worst is over for Sakhalin. The Government has made 10 million Roubles available to Sakahlin to help cover expenses. The Governor of Sakhalin is in overall charge of coordination in the region, with the Deputy Governor being the Chairman of the Regional Emergency Committee. It appears that there are two separate chains of command. Operations Response has been a combination of ground and aerial fire-fighting.