The fires were associated with record-high temperatures, which were attributed to climate change[4]—the summer had been the hottest recorded in Russian history[5]—and drought.

A combination of the smoke from the fires, producing heavy smog blanketing large urban regions and the record-breaking heat wave put stress on the Russian healthcare system.

[10] According to the director of the Global Fire Monitoring Centre (GFMC) Johann Goldammer, the wildfires were caused by "negligent [human] behaviour", such as lighting barbecues and fireworks in a densely wooded area.

[12] The head of EMERCOM, Sergey Shoygu, reported on 31 July 2010 that the fire situation in the seventeen federal subjects of Russia, especially in Vladimir and Moscow Oblasts, may be complicated.

He claimed that in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast the velocity of fires was 100 meters per minute, and the fiery air flow tore trees from the root, like a hurricane.

[15] The Central Regional Center MOE Russia website reported that in Moscow Oblast 130 foci of natural fires were detected, covering the area of 880 hectares.

[6] According to "Interfax" referring to the head of the National Center for Crisis Management of EMERCOM Vladimir Stepanov, as of 2 August 2010, Russia revealed approximately 7,000 fires in the area over 500,000 ha (5,000 km2).

[16] President Dmitry Medvedev cut short his summer break to return to Moscow for an emergency meeting of the national security council to address the crisis.

[17] At an international meeting on 30 July, amid the ongoing heat wave and wildfires, Medvedev announced on television that "practically everything is burning.

[21][22] The officers were accused of "incomplete professional responsibility" after several buildings were allowed to burn down and vehicles and equipment destroyed.

[23] Environmental groups, such as the WWF, and "non-systemic" opposition politicians suggested firefighting has been slowed down by the Forest Code law passed by the Duma in 2006 at the order of Putin.

[25] The legislation transferred responsibility for the country's vast woodlands to regional authorities, putting 70,000 forestry guards out of work.

Firefighters fought to prevent the wildfires from reaching Bryansk, an area bordering Ukraine contaminated with radioactive material, including cesium-137 and strontium-90, in the soils following the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

According to the Federal Air Transportation Agency, the Sheremetyevo airport works as usual because of visibility of about 800 m.[27] An international football friendly match (Russia–Bulgaria) scheduled for 11 August was moved to Saint Petersburg.

[34] According to the spectrometric data received from the NASA satellites Terra and Aqua, the smoke from the fires in some places rose to a height of about 12 kilometers and ended up in the stratosphere, which usually only occurs during volcanic eruptions.

The release of industrial polychlorinated biphenyls from the fires and cryoconite causing melting on the Greenland Ice Sheet were also concerns.

[42] With the number of fires being reduced from 612 to 562, the skies over Moscow were mostly clear on 12 August, giving the city a much needed break from the devastating smog.

[45] After weeks without rain, heavy downpours soaked Moscow and nearby areas, bringing further relief to the extended heat wave.

However, in Sarov, about 480 kilometres (300 mi) east of Moscow, a new fire started near the country's top nuclear research center.

[48][49] The heat wave is believed to have been unprecedented in Russian history,[48] and killed 55,736 people, according to the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters.

[50] Fires have affected areas contaminated by the Chernobyl incident, specifically the surroundings of Bryansk and border regions with Belarus and Ukraine.

Due to this, soil and plant particles contaminated by radioactive material could be released into the air and spread over wider areas.

[52] Russia received assistance in extinguishing the fires from China,[53] Serbia,[54][55] Italy,[56] Ukraine,[57] Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Poland,[58] Lithuania,[59] Iran,[60] Estonia,[61] Uzbekistan,[62] Venezuela,[63] France,[64] Germany,[65] Latvia[66] and Finland[67] Many diplomats and a number of embassies temporarily closed, among them those of Austria, Canada, Germany, Poland and Norway.

[72][73] The Moscow Times wrote on 17 August 2010:Volunteers, widely snubbed by professional firefighters because of their lack of experience, have saved several villages by using basic shovels and buckets of water and sand.

Using shovels and water backpacks, volunteers in Yuvino isolated burning groundcover, cleared a fire line around the village, and loaned firefighters a pump to fill their trucks.

[75] Another volunteer died in Mordovia from carbon monoxide poisoning on 4 August 2010; the body was found by Police patrol days later.

[78] In a piece under his byline on the Moscow Times website, "Right Cause" party co-founder Georgy Bovt wrote: State-controlled television revealed as little information as possible to the public about the fires and smog.