Firefighters deployed to tackle fires at Russian nature reserve

One hundred and forty seven firefighters have been deployed to tackle wildfires at the Denezhkin Kamen nature reserve in Russia's Sverdlovsk Region, according to the local Emergency Ministry.

Around 8,700 meters (28,543 feet) of fire control lines have been created to halt the spread of the fire, the ministry said in a statement on Friday (July 31).

The fire in the nature reserve has so far covered an area of 120 hectares, according to the ministry.

Sweltering heat and dry weather have helped wildfires spread across many regions of Russia, reaching into the boreal forest and tundra that blanket northern Russia.

The high temperatures over northern Russia have fueled massive wildfires, set normally moist peat bogs ablaze, and thawed permafrost, adding to worry over the potential impact on the global climate of rapid shifts in the Arctic.

MG