Chernobyl: Radioactive Forest on Fire

A forest caught fire on Saturday within the exclusion zone of the former nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine. 

About 130 firefighters endeavored to extinguish the fire which has engulfed more than 20 hectares, Kyiv’s civil protection agency reported. A helicopter and three fire-fighting aircrafts were also deployed. 

The Ukrainian State Emergency Service said that "as of April 5, 7:00 a.m., there was no open fire, only some isolated cells smoldering." 

Chernobyl became the site of the worst nuclear accident in history when in April 1986, the reactor at a power plant exploded near the now-abandoned town of Pripyat, causing large quantities of radioactive material to disperse into the atmosphere. 

Radioactive radiation, still present following the 1986 nuclear accident, made fighting the blaze considerably harder. But the officials claim there is no imminent danger to the population centers. 

Forest fires occur frequently in the exclusion zone. It is not yet evident if the cause of the fire is directly linked to the radioactive nature of the forest. 

By Elene Dzebisashvili