Natural fires due to grass burning have become more frequent in Ukraine

Natural fires due to grass burning have become more frequent in Ukraine
Katerina Belousova

464 hectares of land burned in the region

In Poltava Oblast during 2023, there were 833 fires in natural ecosystems, in which two people died during dry burning.

He told about this at the briefing Volodymyr Hryshanin, deputy head of emergency prevention at the Main Department of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in the Poltava Region, Poltava Regional State Administration reports on YouTube.

He emphasized that the number of fires compared to 2022 increased by 8.2%. The main causes of fires were:

  • careless handling of fire when burning dry vegetation and garbage;
  • spontaneous combustion of substances and materials;
  • caught fire

t.me/dsns_telegram

t.me/dsns_telegram

Grishanin explained that during the spring-autumn period, people clean their farms by burning garbage, dry grass on pastures, and leftovers from harvested crops.

"People don't think about the consequences of taking seemingly simple fire safety rules lightly. As a result of fires in ecosystems, the palia themselves suffer when the fire spreads to buildings and structures, parked cars," he said.

Grishanin noted that in 2023 Poltava Oblast recorded:

  • 768 cases of burning of dry vegetation and garbage on a total area of ​​more than 464 hectares (2 buildings and 2 vehicles were destroyed, 8 buildings were damaged);
  • 22 forest fires on an area of ​​9.5 hectares;
  • 36 fires on agricultural land on an area of ​​about 32 hectares;
  • 7 peat fires on an area of ​​7 hectares.

He added that from the beginning of 2023, during raid exercises, rescuers use quadcopters in their work. This helps to identify violators, and video recording becomes irrefutable evidence.

It is worth noting that fires in ecosystems systematically occur throughout Ukraine.

As reported by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (DSNS) in Telegram, on October 3, rescuers extinguished a large-scale fire in the Irpin community in the Kyiv region. The fire destroyed 6 hectares of grass, bushes and trees. The fire was extinguished in about 5 hours by the forces of 30 rescuers and 8 units of equipment.

t.me/dsns_telegram

t.me/dsns_telegram

Earlier, Ecopolitic wrote, that in Poltava Oblast in the Malopereshchepy Forestry, foresters prevented a large-scale fire, thanks to the quick detection and elimination of the fire. The fire damaged 0.18 hectares of forest floor, but it was possible to avoid a wildfire.

As EcoPolitic previously reported, in the Mykolaiv Oblast due to arson, a fire destroyed 48 hectares of the protected tract "Andriivske".

Related
Digest of environmental crimes: record losses due to deforestation and mineral theft
Digest of environmental crimes: record losses due to deforestation and mineral theft

The most costly crime uncovered this week was the illegal extraction of sand, amounting to nearly 750 million hryvnias

FAO will assist Ukraine in restoring forest landscapes
FAO will assist Ukraine in restoring forest landscapes

The project aims to promote the development of forest ecosystems and sustainable forest management practices

Hrytsyk and Odarka have laid their fifth and final egg. When will the chicks hatch?
Hrytsyk and Odarka have laid their fifth and final egg. When will the chicks hatch?

The most important thing right now is to ensure that weather conditions or other external factors do not interfere with the chicks hatching

In Transcarpathia, forests will once again be cleared to make way for roads to wind farms – NGO
In Transcarpathia, forests will once again be cleared to make way for roads to wind farms – NGO

Logging threatens the primeval forests of the Pashkivets Forest District, just as it did previously in "Shypot"