Forest Fire Halts Oil Production on Remote Soviet Island
MOSCOW — A wall of fire raging through the forests of Sakhalin Island in the Soviet Far East has forced a halt in oil production there, the Communist Party daily Pravda reported Friday.
Calling the blaze an “ecological catastrophe,” Pravda said thousands have been mobilized to fight the fire, including parachute teams from distant cities. The daily blamed the disaster on “human neglect,” but did not elaborate.
The fire, which has burned for days and consumed more than 780 square miles of Sakhalin’s forests, has already forced the evacuation of at least one settlement and injured several people.
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