When peat-bog fires blanketed Moscow and other big cities with acrid smoke in 2010, he took the controls of a firefighting plane on national TV.

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Later, after the buildings fell, a cameraman and I cut through the dust and walked toward ground zero, where the sky was filled with fine pieces of glass and acrid smoke.

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The fire had quickly spread to 10 other mats stored nearby, filling the building with acrid noxious smoke.

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