Russia And California Battle Deadly Wildfires
Russia And California Battle Deadly Wildfires
31 July 2010
published by news.sky.com
Russia/USA — Russian wildfires have killed at least 29 people and burned over 1,000 homes as the country suffers its hottest summer on record.
Huge sections of the country have been placed under a state of emergency and more than 10,000 firefighters have been sent out to stop villages and forests being reduced to ash.
Thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes and the Kremlin has called on the army to help put out fires burning over 214,136 acres of woodland and highly flammable peat bog.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited Verkhnyaya Vereya, a village where all 341 homes were burned to the ground and five residents were killed in the blaze.
It was one of three villages around Russia’s fifth largest city, Nizhny Novgorod, left looking like a ghost town coated in grey ash.
Mr Putin told the distressed crowd: “Before winter, each house will be restored. I promise – the village will be rebuilt.”
One sobbing woman thanked him for his “serious talk” and promise of £4,141 in compensation for each villager.
A state of emergency has been declared in 27 of Russia’s 83 regions.
The Moscow region is among the areas hardest hit, but the city has not been put on a state of emergency.
In all nearly 2.5 million acres of land have been devastated by wildfires.
Climate scientist Paul Della-Marta said there has clearly been an increase in heat waves in temperate regions, the heavily populated areas between the polar and tropic regions.
The temperature hit 37.8C in Moscow on Thursday, setting a new record, and July was the hottest month ever recorded in Russia.
Meanwhile, a 12 square mile wildfire has been burning across the southern part of California since it erupted on Thursday.
At one point fllames up to 50ft high threatened the communities of Leona Valley, Anaverde and Ranch Vista.
It forced thousands of people to flee their homes from the Antelope Valley just outside the city of Los Angeles.
But many people have been allowed to return as cool, windless weather has eased the threat.
The blaze broke out near a state highway that snakes through the San Gabriel Mountains, connecting Los Angeles to the high desert.
Fire investigators said they were questioning a group of workers who were trying to remove a tyre rim by hammering on bolts at the time when the fire broke out.
There have been no reports of casualties in the area.
