Russia struggles to quell wildfire emergency

Thousands of firefighters, including army troops, battled hundreds of forest fires that raged across central Russia in the worst heatwave for decades, destroying houses and killing more than 30 people.More than 2,000 troops have been sent in to help firefighters, a defence ministry spokeswoman told ITAR-TASS news agency on Saturday.A total of more than 16,000 firefighters are battling the flames, along with 56 helicopters and planes, the emergency ministry said Saturday.

Monroe County Sheriff's OfficeWilliam Spengler A community is reeling after an ex-con gunned down two firefighters early Monday after luring them to his neighbou

The first significant rain for weeks poured down on Moscow on Friday although forecasters said the heatwave that has left tens of thousands of hectares of land ablaze and destroyed a quarter of Russian crops would continue over the next days.Despite signs of public frustration with the authorities, a heavy police presence ensured only a few dozen activists turned out for a protest against the Moscow mayor's handling of the crisis, several of whom were then arrested.

One quarter of Russia's crops have been lost in a record heatwave and drought, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday, warning that many farms were now on the verge on bankruptcy."We have a very complicated situation because, as a whole in the country, around a quarter of the grain crops have been burned," Medvedev said. "The situation is hard. In some regions it is an emergency."Russia has seen 10 million hectares (25 million acres) of arable land destroyed in its worst drought on record, dealing a body blow to hopes of boosting its status as a major grain exporter.

Australia is burning up. The country is in the grip of a record heatwave, which has made conditions ripe for wildfires.  More than 150 fires continue to sweep across southeastern Australia, and in the island state of Tasmania. Around 1.2 million acres have been burned over the past week, according to the AFP. 

National Public Radio reports today on how the federal government's "takeover" of America's forests with the creation of the U.S. Forest Service in 1905 has led to more, not fewer, forest fires in the long run.  Among fire historians it's known as the "Smokey Bear Effect," thus the title of the segment "How The Smokey Bear Effect Led To Raging Wildfires," here's a slice: 

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday fired a string of officers over failures to stop wildfires that have killed 48 people as a new blaze raged close to a top secret nuclear research facility.With the week-long crisis showing no sign of abating, the emergencies ministry said hundreds of new fires had started over the past day and more bodies were found, raising the death toll to 48.