Volunteers Pitch in to Fight Russia's Raging Forest Fires

The little domed tents of the volunteer firefighters in the clearing of a Siberian forest can be hard to see — even from only a few steps away — because of the choking smoke. Their shovels and saws seem to be tiny tools against the vast blaze, like toy weapons brought to a war.

As of Monday, about 1.88 million hectares (4.6 million acres) of forest were burning in Russia — an area larger than the U.S. state of Connecticut.   More than 5,000 regular firefighters are involved, but the scale is so large and the area is so enormous that 55% of the fires aren't being fought at all, according to Avialesookhrana, the agency that oversees the effort.