Desperate villagers fight advancing flames near Moscow

By Staff Writers
Aug 11, 2010 Zdorovie, Russia (AFP) — Armed with just spades and sand from a nearby river, villagers in Zdorovie near Moscow joined firefighters to save their homes from flames engulfing an adjoining forest. Zdorovie, some 50 kilometers (31 miles) east of Moscow, had been spared from wildfires that enveloped western Russia for two weeks, but on Tuesday the first flames and smoke rose from the neighbouring woods. The fire surged, spurred by a six-week heatwave that had dried grass and soil, and reached the lower branches of trees to the villagers’ horror. Firefighters, helped by water bombing helicopters and local volunteers, battled to beat back the flames before they crossed the road separating the village from the forest. “I look there to see if I have to leave or not,” Lyubov Kharlamova, 62, said, clutching a religious icon in one hand. “I pray that all this ends,” because “if the fire crosses the road, our houses are doomed.” … Russia’s emergencies ministry said that over the past 24 hours, 247 new fires had appeared, more than the 239 had been put out, and 557 fires were still raging across the affected region. The authorities have come under pressure to explain the magnitude of effects of the heatwave, which meteorologists have said is the worst in the 1,000 years of recorded history in Russia. …