The State Emergency Service of Ukraine needs a few more days to extinguish smoldering that remains after the fire in and around the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. This was reported by Head of the State Emergency Service Mykola Chechotkin to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a daily conference call chaired by the President. The Head of State hears a report on this issue every day to keep the situation under control.
Answering the question when the fire in the Exclusion Zone will be eliminated, Mykola Chechotkin said that there has been no fire already.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy was also informed that the day before, after 4 pm, the situation had worsened due to stormy wind, so it had been difficult to control the fire. Therefore, the State Emergency Service sent more equipment and personnel to eliminate the fire. The rain in the area helped the firefighters deal with the situation faster.
“In total, yesterday, aviation firefighters made 227 flights and used 500 tons of water. The background radiation in the Exclusion Zone remains within normal limits and does not increase,” Mykola Chechotkin said.
Simultaneously with fire extinguishing in the territory of the Exclusion Zone, the State Emergency Service has not allowed the spread of the fire to the military ammunition depots, “Shelter” and “Vector” objects, Chernobyl NPP distribution power station and radioactive waste storage facility, Mykola Chechotkin added.
National police informed that the day before arsonists had been detained near two points of fire outbreak, investigative activities were being carried out. One Ukrainian citizen is suspected of setting fire to about seven hectares of drywood.
“I am very glad that the Verkhovna Rada yesterday voted in favor of raising fines for arson, destruction of forests. This is a quick and correct response from the authorities to serious challenges. The previous fines in the amount of several thousand hryvnias were too little punishment for such serious crimes,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed.
It bears reminding that on April 13, at an extraordinary meeting, the Verkhovna Rada approved the bill "On amendments to some legislative acts of Ukraine with the purpose of preservation of the environment (as regards increasing the responsibility for the actions aimed at air pollution and destruction or damaging flora)", which increases fines for burning forests and green spaces 20 times.