MOSCOW - A miasma of smoke from wildfires cloaked the sweltering Russian capital on Friday, turning the city's spires into ominous blurs and grounding flights while glum pedestrians trudged the streets with faces hidden by surgical masks and water-soaked bandanas.
The smoke crept into many buildings, hovering about the ceiling in entryways. The State Historical Museum, on Red Square, was forced to close because it couldn't stop its smoke detectors from going off.
Airborne pollutants such as carbon monoxide were four times higher than average readings - the worst seen to date in Moscow, city health officials reported.
The concentration appeared likely to intensify; the state news agency ITAR-Tass reported smoke was thickening in the city's southeast late Friday.
The fires, which are raging across much of western Russia, come after weeks of extraordinary heat - daily highs of up to 100 degrees compared with the summer average of 75 - and practically no rain.
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Natural Resources Minister Yuri Trenev said Friday that there's no water shortage yet because officials had kept reservoir levels high. But he noted that river levels are down by more than 20 percent, due to increased demands for water to battle the fires and practically no water flowing in.
Russian health officials have urged those who have to go outdoors to don face masks and told people staying inside to hang wet towels to attract dust and cool the airflow.
The Health Ministry said hundreds have needed medical attention due to the smog.
