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THE SCORCHING heat and acrid smoke that has made life hell in Moscow for the last fortnight has doubled its normal death-rate to 700 a day. Muscovites living with temperatures over 32 degrees all last week are fleeing the city in large numbers or staying away from work, as firefighters in the countryside battle wildfires covering 1,740 square kilometres. Weekend concentrations of carbon monoxide and other poisonous substances were seven times above what is considered safe, while the ministry of emergency situations has appealed for volunteer firefighters, acknowledging that the 10,000 already deployed are overwhelmed.

Extreme weather conditions, however, appear to have compounded a man-made disaster waiting to happen, and there is now growing anger over the government’s response and the parlous state of both fire and forestry services. When the wildfires broke out, the media reported, firefighters discovered forest roads overgrown and in poor repair, ponds intended to provide water for their tanks filled with sludge and fire trucks broken down or in a state of disrepair.