The Ukrainian Fire Brigade Has Halved the Burning Area in the Chernobyl Area

The Ukrainian fire brigade has halved the burning area in the Chernobyl area. The forest fire broke out on Saturday and was probably started.

 

Of the 25 hectares that were on fire in the alienation zone, 10 hectares are still on fire, according to the disaster management in Kiev. The fire brigade brought in 120 men and a fire-fighting helicopter.

Environmental experts are particularly concerned that the fires release radioactive materials from the site where the worst nuclear disaster in history occurred 34 years ago.

Still, authorities assure that there is no increased radiation in the inhabited areas adjacent to the nuclear power station’s alienation zone.

The forest fire broke out on Saturday. Police suspect a 27-year-old is responsible for at least one of the two fires.

The Federal Agency for Nuclear Control (Fanc) reported on Monday that no increased radioactivity has yet been measured in Belgium due to the forest fire. “The radiological impact of such a fire is very local,” the agency said on Twitter.

On April 26, 1986, reactor 4 of the Chernobyl power plant exploded about a hundred kilometres north of Kiev.

Much of Europe, but especially Ukraine, Russia and Belarus became polluted after the explosion. In 2011, Ukraine enabled mass tourism to the site as radiation levels had fallen to manageable values.