Russian Federation: Wild Fires/Heatwave - Jul 2010

Unusual and long heat waves with temperatures peaking at 40 Celsius in the shade caused around 30,000 wild fires in more than 20 regions of the Russian Federation during the summer of 2010, engulfing several thousand hectares of land and killing more than 50 people. Thousands of people were affected by the raging fires and lost their homes and basic livelihoods. Many rural settlements (around 2,200 houses) in some European parts, the Ural Mountains and West Siberia were completely destroyed by fire. (IFRC, 11 Mar 2011)