Fivefold growth of forest fires in Siberia reported

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s forest fire aerial protection service says fires in Siberia have grown nearly fivefold over the past week.The fires come amid a notable heat wave in parts of the sprawling region. A high temperature of 38 degrees Celsius C (100.4 F) was reported June 20 in the town of Verkhoyansk. If the reading is confirmed, it would be the hottest day ever recorded in the Arctic. Information from Russia’s aerial fire management agency on Saturday showed 1.15 million hec