Russia 100811 Basic Political Developments

Wildfire situation improves in Russia

http://english.ruvr.ru/2010/08/11/15284972.html

Aug 11, 2010 09:27 Moscow Time

The situation around wildfires is improving in Russia. According to the Emergencies Ministry, all fire sources have been extinguished in the past 24 hours in the Yaroslavl, Tula and Penza Regions, and also in the republic of Udmurtia. The Emergencies Ministry has to date given up supervision of 11 of the 14 Russian fire-ravaged regions. But forests and peat-bogs are still ablaze in the Nizhni Novgorod, Ryazan and Moscow Regions. In the Moscow Region the situation is the worst in the Yegoryevsk district where an extra pipeline is being built to pump water from the Oka River. Meanwhile in Moscow, which was covered in smoke for almost two weeks, the air has grown pure, there’s no more smog or a smell of burning around. Last night the city centre residents bore witness to a full-scale thunderstorm, the first one in several weeks. Inhaling air in Moscow is no more a health hazard.   

Goodwill and better weather, but Russia still ablaze

http://rt.com/Top_News/2010-08-11/goodwill-weather-russia-ablaze.html/print

11 August, 2010, 08:23

Moscow is breathing more freely after overnight rain washed away much of the suffocating smoke which has been tormenting the Russian capital for days.

But the record-breaking heat-wave still lingers, and hundreds of fires continue to burn across the country.

One of the worst-affected regions is Ryazan, 200 kilometers south of Moscow.

Much of the forests here are still engulfed in flames. The local emergency services have been working around the clock here for three weeks trying to contain the fires, which still show no sign of letting up.

The situation here is critical. That’s why on Tuesday, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin came to the Ryazan Region to do what he can. Although there is a little bit of optimism since a rain is forecast.

Daniel Collier saw the reports of the forest blazes raging in Russia, and felt compelled to offer his help.

A veteran British fire-fighter has written a letter to Vladimir Putin, offering to come and join the unfair battle against the natural disaster.

With that in mind, Daniel is preparing for action – he says he is ready to go to the airport the moment he receives word that his help is welcome.

“Although I’ve retired from the fire service after 30 years, I still feel that burning desire to help people,” Collier confessed. “Russia in particular, because of the problem they’ve got at the moment with the wildfires.”

People from all around the world are offering to join the fight against the force of nature. Volunteers from Belarus, Bulgaria and France are among more than 160,000 people now estimated to be battling the blazes. Daniel started his career in rural firefighting, and says that has prepared him well for tackling the type of blazes sweeping through Russia.

“I started my career in 1978, Surrey. A lot of domestic fires, but a lot of fires in rural areas, including forest and military ranges, and in terms of what’s going on in Russia, they mention the word ‘peat’ – we would spend many a week in hot summers dealing with the same type of fire,” he recalled. “The way that we would have dealt with it in those days was to dig fire breaks – dig a trench underneath the peat to stop the fire spreading underneath the ground.”

Even though Daniel retired two years ago, he says in his mind he is still on the frontline.

“The language of firefighters, no matter where you are in the world, a firefighter is the same – they’re there to help save lives. Full stop. That’s it,” Collier says. “All Russia has to do is to simply ask and then allow the people that care – the paramedics, the firefighters – to come in and do their jobs.”

Daniel Collier is packed and ready to go. The only thing stopping him flying to Russia is red tape. Collier says if Russia temporarily suspended the visa regime for emergency workers, he, and hundreds like him, would flood to Russia to quell he flames.

Damp delight as rain gives Moscow a breather

http://www.mn.ru/local/20100811/187978065.html
by Andy Potts at 11/08/2010 10:52

First came the wind, then the hiss of rain on pavements … then finally the whoops of joy as insomniac Muscovites rushed out into the streets to celebrate the smog-busting thunderstorm which arrived shortly after midnight on Wednesday morning.

But such damp jubilation is unlikely to last long, forecasters fear, with blue skies and lower temperatures soon to be replaced by another dose of choking smoke.

Throughout Tuesday a change in wind direction had steadily cleared the polluted air from over the city, allowing Moscow to return to a slightly sweatier version of normality.

Brief breather

Sadly it appears that by the end of the week the clear skies will cloud over again.

Yevgeny Semutnikova, director of Mosekomonitoring, told Rossiiskaya Gazeta that – as on Monday evening – there was no fundamental change in the situation.

He added that by Friday the smog was likely to return, although the levels of pollution and the thickness of the smoke would depend on the success of fire-fighting efforts around the city.

And those efforts are due to be hampered by further hot weather, making it hard for the blazes to be brought under control.

Worse to come?

Moscow’s mayor, Yury Luzhkov, has returned to the city after a storm of criticism that his holiday coincided with the crisis.

And he immediately warned a City Hall meeting that cooling air could unleash a hurricane on the Russian capital – urging officials to be prepared for this.