Wildfire still a hazard
Wildfires raze village in Russia’s Siberian Federal District, some 1,000 evacuated
08 September 2010
published by www.en.rian.ru/natural
Russia: The village of Nikolayevka in the Altai Territory has completely burned down and two other villages are on fire, a spokeswoman for Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said on Wednesday.
“All the homes in the village of Nikolayevka are on fire. According to preliminary information, 443 of them have already been completely destroyed,” Irina Andrianova said, adding that 1,166 people were evacuated from the village.
The outskirts of Nikolayevka are covered with forests and the homes located in the vicinity immediately caught on fire.
Three fire fronts are moving toward Altai and Siberian territories from neighboring Kazakhstan, Andrianova added.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has ordered investigations into the actions of officials, who did not take any measures to prevent the fires from spreading.
Forest and peat bog fires raged in European Russia in July-August. The fires killed over 50 people, destroyed more than 2,000 homes and 11 million hectares of crops.
MOSCOW, September 8 (RIA Novosti)
