Kola wildfire smoke drifts into Nordic neighbours

By Thomas Nilsen, The Independent Barents Observer August 13, 2024
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Authorities in border regions of Norway and Finland are monitoring the situation but do currently not fear that Russia’s northern wildfires will spread.
The wildfires at Russia’s Fishermen Peninsula started this weekend. Photo: Murmansk Telegram

Fires on dry peat bogs at several locations west of Murmansk on Russia’s Barents Sea coast continue to send smoke into east Finnmark region in Norway and Finland’s Lapland region for the second day in a row.

There are several weeks since the area last saw rainfall, and with temperatures in July and August peaking beyond 25°C the risk of wildfires are high.

NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management Systems (FIRMS) could Tuesday evening detect wildfires at eight locations on the Kola Peninsula. The largest fire covers several square kilometers in the area between Ura Guba and the Northern Fleet’s submarine bases in Vidyayevo and Zapadnaya Litsa.

This fire has been burning since at least Thursday last week, a study of recent satellite images provided by Sentinel show.

A clear satellite images from August 9th shows how the smoke from the fire near Vidyayevo drift north over the Barents Sea. During the weekend, several fires have started closer to the border with Norway. Photo: Sentinel satellite

In Kirkenes, the Norwegian border town, smell and smoke have caused people to close doors and windows despite temperatures of up to 27°C Sunday and Monday.

Police and fire services say they are monitoring the situation, but underlines that there are currently no danger that any of the wildfires north on the Kola Peninsula will spread into Norway.

During the weekend, a new fire started on the Sredny Peninsula, north of Russia’s tourist tracks from Titovka towards the Fishermen Peninsula. There are few trees so far north, but burning dry peat bogs combined with wind along the coast makes it difficult to put out the fire, local Telegram channels in Murmansk can tell.

Located in Kirkenes, Norway, just a few kilometres from the borders to Russia and Finland, the Barents Observer is dedicated to cross-border journalism in Scandinavia, Russia and the wider Arctic.

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