On April 3rd, a wildfire started near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant,  caused by a 27-year-old man from the area who reportedly told police he had set grass and rubbish on fire in three places “for fun”. This caused a forest fire which made the radiation in the area rise again after the radiation fell slowly but surely ever since the disaster in 1986. And now, nearly a month later, Ukranian firefighters are still trying to put them out. The International Atomic Energy Agency has stated that the radiation is not harmful to humans, and that the population doesn’t have to close the windows out of fear of radiation poisoning.

The original Chernobyl incident occurred in April of 1986 in a Ukranian nuclear power plant controlled by the Soviet Union. The accident occured due to a flaw in the reactor’s design, along with inadequate training for the staff, which resulted in a steam explosion and fires which caused the release of radiation from the core. 

The economic disaster was 235 billion dollars, with the general population leaving the local villages. Anyone who didn’t suffer from multiple different illnesses, from radiation poisoning, to cancer, to death. For the past three decades, the area has been left alone for the radiation levels to die down, with the only people going in being scientists and tourists. As for the flora and fauna, they were left to suffer the horrible effects of the radiation on their genetic codes, causing mutations. 

While all of that is in the past, there is still an environmental concern. As the IAEA stated, the radiation now no longer harms humans, for the most part, however, it will still devastate the plant and animal life around the area, with reports stating that the radiation levels are ‘16 times the normal level’. While the local human population has nothing to worry about, years of ecological re-building could be lost if these forest fires continue. Only time, and the Ukranian firefighters trying to put out the fires will tell if there is any hope for the forest.