For 10 days, hundreds of Ukrainian firefighters battled wildfires burning near the defunct Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The fires began on April 3 in the western part of the uninhabited exclusion zone. The area was vacated in April 1986 following the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl. The acting director of Ukraine's State Ecology Inspection, Yehor Firsov, said on April 14 that firefighters had managed to finally extinguish the blaze.
How Ukrainian Firefighters Battled Wildfires Around Chernobyl
- By RFE/RL
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Wildfires burn in the 30-kilometer Chernobyl exclusion zone on April 10, not far from the defunct nuclear power plant. The acting director of Ukraine's State Ecology Inspection, Yehor Firsov, said on April 14 that firefighters had managed to finally extinguish the blaze.
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A fire burns in the exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant outside the village of Rahivka on April 5.
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Ukrainian firefighters battle flames near the village of Rahivka on 10 April.The fires began on April 3 in the western part of the uninhabited exclusion zone before spreading to nearby forests.
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An aerial view shows a forest fire in the exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on April 12. Ukraine's National Police said they had detained two people suspected of setting the initial fire.
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This aerial picture taken on April 12 shows the aftermath of a forest fire not far from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
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A column of smoke rises from the wildfire near the Chernobyl plant on April 10. Greenpeace Russia warned that fires blazing through the exclusion zone were much larger than authorities in Kyiv were admitting and that they posed a radiation risk.
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Smoke and flames gave the forest in the exclusion zone an eerie orange glow on April 10. Officials with Ukraine's Emergency Situations Service said that radiation in the region and in the capital, Kyiv, was within "permissible" levels.
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Ukrainian firefighters near the village of Rahivka. More than 400 firefighters were trying to extinguish the flames since April 3.
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Plumes of smoke rise not far from the plant.
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The view from the roof of the Chernobyl nuclear power station on April 10. Greenpeace Russia said one blaze was just a kilometer from the defunct plant.
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A satellite image from NASA's Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) shows the area of fire nearby Chernobyl. The Chernobyl power plant sarcophagus is seen as a silver rectangular object on the left of the map. Red and orange squares indicate the location of fires on April 13.
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A Geiger counter showed an increase in radiation levels near the village of Volodymyrivka in the exclusion zone around Chernobyl on April 5.
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Nearly 100 firefighting vehicles were being used to battle the wildfires.
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A house burns in the village of Stara Markivka, Poliske district, that was inhabited by squatters, in the exclusion zone on April 9. Many abandoned villages burnt down in the area.
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Three planes and three helicopters were used to drop water on the wildfires. According to the Emergency Situations Service, more than 530 tons of water were dropped on the fires as of April 13.
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Heavy machinery plowed more than 100 kilometers of land in order to stop the spread of fire.
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This aerial picture taken on April 12 shows a forest fire burning in the 30-kilometer Chernobyl exclusion zone.
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Burned trees were left by the forest fire outside the settlement of Poliske on April 12. A senior official from the emergency service, Volodymyr Demchuk, said that the fire did not pose a threat to the nuclear power plant.
