Ukraine Forest Fires 24 August 2007
It was a smoke signal gone wrong. Very wrong. A tourist lost in mountain forest near the town of Alupka, Crimea, lit a fire to attract attention from prospective rescuers. The fire is in a popular holiday destination on the Black Sea and is the latest in a series of blazes in Ukraine this summer.
"We know for sure the human factor was the cause of the fire. Rescuers have detained a man who made a fire at the top of a mountain. The fire then spread down the mountain and set the forest on fire. The worst thing about it is that it killed the forester and his wife. We were not able to get to them due to the fire wall and found the bodies only in the morning," Igor Katsai, Crimean Forest and Hunting Committee representative, commented.
"There are 1,000 people working to put out the fire. Mostly emergency crews, firemen, Navy units and police. The Minister has ordered to use aircraft to extinguish the fire, and a helicopter has already dropped water. Now we are expecting two more planes. There is no threat to the life and heath of the tourists in the area at the moment. We have not been able to localise the fire, but we are putting all our efforts into this," Vladimir Ivanov, Aide to the Chief of Ukraine’s Emergencies Ministry, said.
The fire spread to 70 hectares of forest and killed 2 people. It was contained by 27 August 2007.
Ukrainian Minister for Emergency Situations Nestor Shufrich said "It is the worst forest fire in Ukraine since 1993"
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