I just yesterday returned from a trip route Chelyabinsk – Naberezhnye Chelny – Kazan – Nizhny Novgorod – Cheboksary -Elabuga. Almost 3000 km on the car. Smoke began just behind Naberezhnye Chelny. At first it was very difficult to breathe, but the next day we got accustomed to this smoke and almost did not notice it. On the way back the smoke has got to Ufa. Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan were also in the smoke, the sun was not visible. Day temperature was up to 42 degrees, night temperature were dropping to 30. In Nizhny Novgorod, there was no rain from June 25, in Cheboksary, the church arranged the procession to ask for rain. Fields are of yellow colour, wheat is nearly all burnt out (not from the fire, but from the sun), the harvest will not be.
The problem is not so much in a shortage of vehicles, but in the absence of roads. Federal Highway M7 is in the smoke. What about rural roads, the villages were burnt out until fire-fighters arrival. In Nizhny Novgorod we were told of how one village was burnt for 20 minutes, 350 houses, the fire spread through the lake width of 200 m. No wind, stuffy, and when a fire starts, strong air flows occur because of the temperature difference, such a fiery cyclone, and it is very difficult to extinguish the fire. A fiery wind “blows” from the epicentre of the fire, burning embers scatter in all directions.
Pictures of the trip through the smoke:
