Russia’s Wildfire

Wildfires have been raging through Central Russia for the past few months. Heatwave together with drought conditions have seen fires on the rise. At one stage there were some 800 to 900 fire spots.

Even the Prime Minister, Putin has personally come down to the ground to help fight the fires.

Elsewhere, firefighters near Moscow have begun to flood peat bogs burning outside the city. Thick smoke and choking pollution from the bogs has blanketed the capital for days, making it dangerous to go outdoors.

Officials during the Soviet days drained the bogs to harvest the peat for fuel. What remains is highly combustible. Russian environmentalists and local residents have criticized the government for what they say is its failure to properly monitor the drained bogs for fires and manage forests.

The official death toll from the Russian wildfires is at 52 as on 11th Aug 2010. But Moscow health chief said Monday the city’s daily mortality rate has jumped from 350 to around 700.

Video by KSTan, Citizen Journalist

(Video is compiled from images obtained from the Internet)