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Rain refreshes Moscow, but wildfires still burning
Source: Agencies |
August 14, 2010, Saturday
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HEAVY downpours cooled the Russian capital after weeks of no rain and unprecedented heat, but dozens of wildfires still raged around Moscow and a new blaze was spotted near the country's top nuclear research center.
The city remains largely free of the clouds of suffocating smog that affected it earlier, but meteorologists say smoke from burning forests and peat bogs may choke the city over the weekend if the wind direction changes.
The Emergency Situations Ministry said yesterday its teams have managed to reduce the area covered by wildfires, but more than 500 were continuing to burn across the country, including 29 around Moscow. It said about 14,000 firefighters were battling blazes around the Russian capital.
Russia was receiving help from the United States, which yesterday began deliveries of firefighting equipment valued at US$2.5 million (鈧2 million), the US Embassy said. The state of California also has contributed fire-protective clothing.
Several other countries also have contributed to the firefighting effort, including France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Turkey, as well as Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. Some have sent firefighting aircraft and personnel.
Russia has been battling the fires for nearly three weeks. A new wildfire started east of the nuclear research facility in Sarov, 480 kilometers east of Moscow. The blaze spread quickly, prompting firefighters in the region to call in reinforcements from neighboring areas, according to the region's emergency headquarters.
Earlier this month, massive wildfires around Sarov, the birthplace of Soviet nuclear weapons, prompted the state nuclear agency to move all explosive and radioactive material as a precaution. Reinforcements, including aircraft and robots, helped stem the blazes.
Sergei Novikov, a spokesman for the Rosatom state atomic corporation, said that the radioactive and explosive materials were moved back to Sarov after the fire situation had stabilized, and there was no immediate need to move them out again.
"There is no threat now to the state nuclear center," he said.
Another potential danger comes from wildfires in areas contaminated by the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, which could raise radioactive particles into the air and spread them over broader territory. The authorities have insisted that all wildfires in the Chernobyl-affected regions have been quickly dealt with and radiation levels have remained normal.
The national weather service yesterday said it had dispatched a team of radiation experts to constantly monitor the radiation level in the western Bryansk region, the area of Russia that suffered most from the Chernobyl catastrophe in Soviet Ukraine.
The city remains largely free of the clouds of suffocating smog that affected it earlier, but meteorologists say smoke from burning forests and peat bogs may choke the city over the weekend if the wind direction changes.
The Emergency Situations Ministry said yesterday its teams have managed to reduce the area covered by wildfires, but more than 500 were continuing to burn across the country, including 29 around Moscow. It said about 14,000 firefighters were battling blazes around the Russian capital.
Russia was receiving help from the United States, which yesterday began deliveries of firefighting equipment valued at US$2.5 million (鈧2 million), the US Embassy said. The state of California also has contributed fire-protective clothing.
Several other countries also have contributed to the firefighting effort, including France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Turkey, as well as Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. Some have sent firefighting aircraft and personnel.
Russia has been battling the fires for nearly three weeks. A new wildfire started east of the nuclear research facility in Sarov, 480 kilometers east of Moscow. The blaze spread quickly, prompting firefighters in the region to call in reinforcements from neighboring areas, according to the region's emergency headquarters.
Earlier this month, massive wildfires around Sarov, the birthplace of Soviet nuclear weapons, prompted the state nuclear agency to move all explosive and radioactive material as a precaution. Reinforcements, including aircraft and robots, helped stem the blazes.
Sergei Novikov, a spokesman for the Rosatom state atomic corporation, said that the radioactive and explosive materials were moved back to Sarov after the fire situation had stabilized, and there was no immediate need to move them out again.
"There is no threat now to the state nuclear center," he said.
Another potential danger comes from wildfires in areas contaminated by the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, which could raise radioactive particles into the air and spread them over broader territory. The authorities have insisted that all wildfires in the Chernobyl-affected regions have been quickly dealt with and radiation levels have remained normal.
The national weather service yesterday said it had dispatched a team of radiation experts to constantly monitor the radiation level in the western Bryansk region, the area of Russia that suffered most from the Chernobyl catastrophe in Soviet Ukraine.
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