The massive fires in the Chornobyl exclusion zone have been contained, the Interior Ministry reported on April 14. Small-scale fires remain yet, but they are under full control of the 415 firefighters and 98 fire engines currently working in the zone, the ministry stated on its website.
“Aerial inspection of the last fires was made today (April 14) at 7 a.m. Today they will be completely extinguished,” Anton Gerashchenko, deputy interior minister, wrote on Facebook.
The weather conditions assisted: During the night, rain showers covered much of Kyiv Oblast, where Chornobyl is located, and rain continued throughout much of the morning and early afternoon on April 14.
The fires in the Chornobyl exclusion zone began on April 4. The zone covers 2,600 square kilometers around the power plant that exploded in 1986, causing the worst civilian nuclear disaster in history.
The fires were caused by arson. On April 6, authorities arrested a 27-year-old man who confessed that he was burning garbage and dry leaves in the zone “for fun.”
The State Agency for the Management of the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone reported on April 10 that over 3,000 hectares of land were burned by the raging fires — an equivalent of 4,200 soccer fields.
On April 13, the fires approached the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant and the ghost town of Pripyat, which is nearby.
A day later, on April 14, Gerashchenko reported that the radiation level in Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast, where Chornobyl is located, is normal.
The current index for Kyiv is 0.012 milliroentgen per hour, for Kyiv Oblast the current index is 0.011 mR/h. The norm is 0.005 mR/h. The radiation index must be over 20 mR/h to pose a threat.
On April 13, the Ministry of Energy and Environmental Protection allocated an additional Hr 45 million ($1.7 million) to combat the raging fires in Chornobyl. That same day, parliament passed a bill meant to combat deliberate burning of leaves and grass, a practice widespread in Ukraine.
The law, which received the support of 328 lawmakers from multiple parties, increased the fine for burning plant matter near cities and roads from a maximum of Hr 8,500 ($314) to Hr 153,000 ($5,500). The average salary in Ukraine is $450.
