Ukrainian firefighters continue extinguishing forest fires in the Chornobyl exclusion zone. "Units of the State Emergency Service, assisted by employees of the forestry and fire protection departments of state-run Specialized Enterprise Pivnichna Pushcha, continue extinguishing fires in the territories of Lubianka, Dytiatky, Kotovsk, Denysovychi, Kohorod, and Paryshiv forestry in the exclusion and mandatory resettlement areas," the press service of the State Agency of Ukraine for Exclusion Zone Management said in a statement.
In particular, work is under way to contain the burning of forest litter, stumps and wood. In Paryshiv forestry (the village of Kryva Hora) and Kotovsk forestry (the village of Poliske), Pivnichna Pushcha workers continue eliminating the burning of peat bogs with the use of fire water pumps. Some 207 people and 64 pieces of equipment are involved in the extinguishing operations. As UNIAN reported earlier, first forest fires in the Chornobyl exclusion zone began on April 4, covering 20 hectares then. On April 7, the area affected by the fires expanded to 35 hectares. On April 14, they were reportedly extinguished but resumed on April 16. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on April 26 took a helicopter tour over the area damaged by fires in the Chornobyl exclusion zone. According to him, over 11,000 ha of forests in the zone have been damaged by the recent fires.
