NASA MODIS Image of the Day: October 7, 2011 – Fires and smoke in central Russia
Multiple fires were burning around the city of Bratsk and near the towns of Vikhorevka and Porozhskiy north of the Bratsk Reservoir in central Russia on October 1, 2011 when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Aqua satellite captured this true color image.
A state of emergency for the city of Bratsk was declared on September 29 due to the severity of the fires, and 173 hectares of forest were burning on October 1, according to The Moscow News.
Additional fires can be seen burning west of the reservoir near Shitkino, Russia. The Bratsk Reservoir is located on the Angara River, in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. The reservoir is about 2,110 square miles (5,470 square kilometers) and is named for the city of Bratsk, located nearby on the Angara River. The city is home to nearly 250,000 people and is the second largest city in the Baikal region. Lake Baikal itself can be seen in the lower right section of the image. Smoky conditions prevailed over Bratsk, causing closing of schools and, according to local news sources, some citizens donning moistened surgical masks to try to minimize smoke inhalation. Smoke can aggravate respiratory conditions, and The Moscow News reported that a large number of people had to seek medical attention. On October 6, Itar-Tass reported that the smog was thinning, and no active fires burned within the city. There were no new active fires registered on that day, and the situation was reported to be stabilizing, according to the Russian Emergency Situations Minstry (EMERCOM). The number of fires burning in the region had reduced by at least seven, and those remaining were considered to be localized. Human activity has been blamed for the cause of the fires, and at least 13 criminal cases were opened in the city of Brastk related to the recent forest fires, according to Itar-Tass. In addition, a spokesman for the Russian Interior Ministry’s Public Order Department reported that sixty-two people had been detained for violating the fire regime.
