Moscow region tightening control over peat-bogs to prevent fires

Increasing heat-wave has prompted the Moscow region’s authorities to introduce a daily monitoring of peat-bogs in order to prevent fires on them, Fyodor Zhiratyuk, a deputy director of the Moscow regional specialized repairs and restoration service told Izvestia daily.
In August 2010, the smog produced by burning peat on the background of air temperatures at around 40 degrees Celsius turned into a natural calamity in the eastern, northeast and southeast districts of the Moscow region and necessitated emergency measures, included inundation of the bogs.
“All the peat-bogs are inundated again now and the data on the levels of water in them is gathered every morning,” Zhiratyuk said.
“Particularly risky is the situation in the peatland areas where inundation began only recently, since peat takes time to get imbued with water,” he said.