For three days, Kyiv residents have been forced to keep their windows shut as air pollution levels spiked due to the multiple wildfires. The northwesterly wind brought smoke from Zhytomyr Oblast, where fires have destroyed nearly 4,000 hectares of forests and 38 homes.
Meteorologists forecast the air quality in the capital may improve around April 20-22 when the wind changes its direction, deputy director of the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Center, Anatoly Prokopenko, said at a press briefing on April 18.
On April 17 and 18, the concentration of dust and burning residues in the air have exceeded the norms by 2-4 times. Concentrations of nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and formaldehyde have been 2-3 times over the limits.
The air pollution is the worst in the morning and at night, Prokopenko said.
Kyiv officials initially reported that the smoke was brought from the fires in the Chornobyl exclusion zone. But Prokopenko said that the massive fires in Zhytomyr Oblast were the source of smoke that covered Kyiv in acrid haze since April 16 night.
As of 11 a.m on April 18, Kyiv’s Air Quality Index ranged from 360 and 499 in different parts of the city, rated “hazardous,” according to tracking website IQAir. These markers have improved to “moderate” by 7 p.m.
By April 18, 6 out of 15 hot spots in forests of Zhytomyr Oblast were put out. Five more hot spots had been contained, according to the director of the emergency response at the State Emergency Service Volodymyr Demchuk.
Firefighters are also trying to extinguish four fires within the Chornobyl exclusion zone. They don’t pose a threat to the nuclear plant or other critical infrastructure, and radiation levels in Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast are within the normal range, Demchuk said.
Fires initially broke out on April 4 and were contained on April 14 thanks to rain and the efforts of firefighters. Some smoldering areas remained, however, and were reignited by strong winds on April 16.
The aerial view of the Chornobyl exclusion zone in the morning of April 18. Source: The State Emergency Service of Ukraine.
