Dry terrain, wind and rough terrain have made it difficult to put out large-scale firefighting operations. A large rescue from Etela-Savo arrived at the scene.
Thirty units of the Defense Force and Rescue Service are working round the clock to suppress the historically widespread forest fires in Myrskylä.
According to rescue officials in East Ushima, this is the largest wildfire during the entire life cycle of the regional rescue operation. The regional division of rescue operations was introduced in 2004, that is, almost 20 years ago.
Firefighters are working through the night to bring the fire under control. Photo: Sentry Kaiko / Reader’s photo
The first alarm about the wildfire was given at 1:30 pm on Monday. Since then, at least 30 units from the rescue services of Ita-Ushima, Central-Ushima and Payajat-Hume and the contracted fire brigades of the region have participated in the extinguishing.
Helicopters of the defense forces and border guards have also participated in the operation.
Several fire fighting units are present at the spot. Photo: Sentry Kaiko / Reader’s photo
Free fire extinguishers have helped a lot in extinguishing the fire. Photo: Sentry Kaiko / Reader’s photo
Sentry Caikko traveled from the neighboring municipality to monitor the fire on Monday evening.
The smoke rising from the fire could be seen till Pukkila. On the spot, a lot of smoke rises from a wide area in the logging pit, he sums up.
According to Kaiko, the wildfire gathered several local people to monitor the situation. A variety of rescue operations converged in the field of vision.
Destructive trail of the sea of fire. Photo: Sentry Kaiko / Reader’s photo
A total of 37 hectares of forest was consumed during Monday and Tuesday. The fire did not spread near habitation or endanger human life.
The rescue service said on Monday evening that they had brought the fire under control so that there was no danger of it spreading.
However, work in the wild continued overnight after the fire area was placed “under control”.
We are firmly on the winning side. Jouni Wirata, on-duty fire master of Ita-Ushima Rescue Service, told Ilta-Sanom on Tuesday afternoon that the fire was no longer there and there was a danger of spreading.
At present, the work of extinguishing the fire is going on at the site, which will continue for a few more days.
– Units remove individual fire outbreaks. Even if it is raining now and no matter how carefully you try to put out the fire, later smoke will start rising from somewhere in the lower part of the stump.
Helicopters of the defense forces and border guards have helped in extinguishing the fire. Photo: Sentry Kaiko / Reader’s photo
Photo: Sentry Kaiko / Reader’s photo
The task of extinguishing the exceptionally extensive fire has been a demanding and overwhelming task for rescuers.
Here we have to rotate the team a lot, so that the team can compete and be able to strike. It has presented challenges to us in its operation for such a long time. Resources are starting to run out, but fortunately the situation is now under control and we have been able to reduce the number of fire fighting forces, Varta completed the ongoing rescue mission for more than a day.
A major wildfire differs from a typical rescue mission precisely in its duration.
– If it’s a typical building fire, we go there with a big group and run, and it’s usually dealt with relatively quickly. When we talk about wildfires, it puts a lot of strain on personnel and equipment and takes a lot of time, Wirta compares.
A thick cloud of smoke rose from the place of the fire. Photo: Sentry Kaiko / Reader’s photo
The wildfire was probably started by a forest machine working in the logging area.
Before the rains started on Tuesday, the ground in Myerskilla, like the rest of Finland, was very dry.
When you consider how small it started and how long it took for the fire to spread before it was brought under control, it could have ended much worse.
Even a slight gust of wind gave speed to Rohu.
– The forest roads were not much of an obstacle, so that the fire would not spread to the other side of the road, explains Virta.
Residents of the area were not at risk from the large fire. Photo: Sentry Kaiko / Reader’s photo
The bare ground in the cleared area made it difficult for firefighters to advance. Photo: Sentry Kaiko / Reader’s photo
The rocky and rough terrain of the clean-out area added an additional factor to the difficulty of the extinguishing task.
– Walking in the fire zone has been challenging.
The fire fighting unit that arrived from Etela-Savo on Monday, built on the bottom of a forest truck, was of great help in a difficult situation.
– It has the ability to move in such conditions. The unit was busy all night last night and this has been an absolutely vital benefit and help, thank you Virta.
