Ukrainian officials confirm that the fire began on Saturday near the scene of the most terrible in the world of nuclear catastrophe.
Ukraine reported a sharp increase in radiation levels in the exclusion Zone around Chernobyl, where the third day of raging wildfires. About it reports The Guardian.
«There’s bad news — radiation above normal in the center of the fire», — stated in Facebook, on Sunday, the head of the state ecological inspection of Ukraine Egor Firsov.
Firsova post contained a video with a Geiger counter, which is indicators of the level of radiation exceeds the norm by 16 times.
The fire extended about 100 hectares (250 acres) of forest, writes Firsov.
Kiev has mobilized two aircraft An-32P, the Mi-8 helicopter and about 100 firefighters to fight the blaze, which broke out on Saturday and spread on 20 hectares in the forest area near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (ChNPP).
On Sunday morning the fire managed to localize, but some fires still pose the threat of large-scale fires.
On Saturday, the emergency service reported that the increase in radiation in some areas led to «difficulties» in combating the fire, while emphasizing that other people nearby are not in danger.
Chernobyl contaminated large areas of Europe, when, in April 1986 exploded fourth reactor of the Chernobyl NPP, and the region immediately surrounding the plant, suffered the most.
People are not allowed to live within 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the plant.
The other three reactor at Chernobyl continued to generate electricity until the plant finally closed in 2000. Over the fourth reactor in 2016 was a special sarcophagus — a giant protective dome.
Fire fighting continues in the woods near the closed plant.
The presumable cause of the fire is arson of a dry grass.
Gschs of Ukraine reported that in Kiev and Kiev region the radiation level in the normal range.
