Ukrainian rescuers keep extinguishing smoldering fires in Chornobyl Puscha

09:53, 17.08.2015 1 min read

A wildfire between the former villages of Kovshylivka and Buda Varovychy in the exclusion and mandatory resettlement zone of the Chornobyl NPP (the Chornobyl Puscha) was still being extinguished on Monday morning.

"Smoldering forest floor was being watered and watched over the past day, there was no open flame. Heavy machinery built a four-kilometer firebreak [its total length is 38 kilometers]," the State Emergency Service of Ukraine said in a report posted on Monday.

A helicopter of the State Emergency Service performed an aerial reconnaissance mission to assess the conditions and to help adjust operations of the firefighting forces.

In all, 107 men and 27 pieces of hardware, including 50 men and nine pieces of hardware of the State Emergency Service, were fighting the blaze. Reserves comprising of 95 men and 15 fire engines of the Service are on standby.

Radiation levels are stable in the city of Kyiv and the Kyiv region; the exposition dose in the soil and the concentration of radionuclides in waters do not exceed the norms.