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Peatbog fires near Petrozavodsk fraught with haze in city

Volunteers who saw the fire spots said that unless the fire spots were liquidated they might provoke devastating peat bog fires

PETROZAVODSK , May 16 (Itar-Tass) —— Dry grass which caught fire has caused a heavy peat bog fire in the area of the Kola federal motorway 12 kilometers off Petrozavodsk.

Volunteers who saw the fire spots said that unless the fire spots were liquidated they might provoke devastating peat bog fires. The weather forecast in Petrozavodsk for the next few days says it will be dry and warm in that area.

Chief of the Russian Greenpeace forest protection program Alexei Yaroshenko warned that unless the peat bog fire was extinguished the fire might cause a heavy haze in the settlement of Shuya, situated at a distance of four kilometers from the fire epicenter, and in Petrozavodsk as well.

In the next 24 hours the weather will be dry and warm in Petrozavodsk and in the countryside, local weathermen said. Until recently peat bog fires were no serious problem in the northern region. Therefore, the fire-fighting service of Karelia might underestimate the looming risks, Yaroshenko warned.