Reality show “Burn Ukraine”: the impunity led to record forest and steppe fires

In the spring of two years ago, the Kyiv Hippodrome was on fire. Immediately calm down: the stables were not damaged, the horses are safe and sound. But it could have been different…

I noticed clouds of smoke approaching the «Ipodrom» metro station. I immediately called the fire department and, using only a familiar local hole in the fence, ran to the directorate. The man in the waiting room would immediately call up someone, and I ran back to that corner of the green zone of the hippodrome, where it was burning. While i was running, the fire truck rushed to the other side of Hlushkova Avenue. They can’t see where to go, because the smoke has already decreased. I waved my hand, they saw me. Together with the senior crew of the firefighting vehicle we approach a fence, and there workers of a hippodrome are already fussing, the majority of centers of blaze-up is already extinguished.

Senior on walkie-talkie: “Sign-off, garbage incineration”. I am saying there is not only garbage burning – I point to the burnt litter and cracked trunks. “Yeah, – the senior replies, – I see. Well, our inspector will come, figure it out, draw up a protocol”.  Here, the women who passed by us said: “Don’t let them down. In the region of Chernihiv, two people were burned”. “Yes, I know,” the senior waves his hand, “I myself have returned from a business trip for two days ago from the Kiev region”.
 

Hares cry, ducks weep

During a conference call on April 26 2019, the head of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SES) Mykola Chechotkin reported: “… The stringent situation with fires in natural ecosystems, where up to 120 cases occur every day, and only on April 25 more than 300 personnel, 50 units of equipment and almost all firefighting aircraft of the Service were involved in their extinguishing in the Zhytomyr region.”

On April 10, Mr. Chechotkin drew attention to the unprecedented number and scale of fires in natural ecosystems at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine: “On average, up to 600 such fires are recorded every day and now their number has exceeded 13 thousand in the last three months.”

In addition, the head of the Service drew attention to the fire of dry vegetation near settlements, landfills and river floodplains, of which 12,700 cases have been recorded since the beginning of the year, which resulted in the death of 16 people. Chechotkin also highlighted that the main reason for the aggravation of the situation is that the authorities, forest users and owners of peat bogs have not begun work on combating fires in natural ecosystems.

It seemed as if he had been heard. “It is important to emphasize that the authorities organize this work. Eliminating an emergency is very dangerous and expensive for the state budget. Therefore, we will make a protocol decision today. We need one framework law that will give us the full powers to establish a measure of responsibility, “said then Prime Minister Volodymyr Hroisman. At the same time, take into account that in a couple of months another wave of forest fires – summer ones – awaits us.

Another cause of the natural fire was the Minister of Sound of Ecology and Natural Resources (Ministry of Environment) Ostap Semerak on his Facebook page: “Considering the critical situation with arson and wildfires of dead-wood. Today, during a meeting of the Strategic Committee of the Cabinet of Ministers, the Prime Minister supported my appeal and instructed to hold a meeting of the Commission on on technogenic and ecological safety and emergencies for further coordination and strengthening of cooperation of authorities at all levels in the fight against wildfires.

As practice shows, the efforts of the the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SES) and environmental inspectors in this fight are not enough. People continue to burn last year’s grass and reeds. They are not stopped even by the fact that not only plants but also animals and (!!!) people die in the fire. Only this spring, three people died in these eco-genocides.”

And ordinary citizens are posting packs of photos of burnt bunnies and chicks…

“Caught the arsonist…and what?”…

The words and appeals are correct, but will it help stop the fire? Let’s take a look at the situation in different regions of Ukraine.

The arsonist has been caught in Pyriatynskyi National Natural Park (Poltava region), – informs ecologist Anatolii Podobailo.  – When I arrived to the village, I saw that the floodplain was burning.  I informed the director of the national park, called firefighters. The inspector arrived ten minutes later. Firefighters 20 (distance 12 km). Ok. The firefighters arrived on time. They were able to prevent the spread of fire to the village. However,  reeds spread the fire to the floodplain. It is impossible to reach or drive to the flame. Water fills the shoes, but the reeds burn at the top. Inspectors of the Nature Reserve Fund (NRF) found the arsonist. The story is as follows: Volodia was paralyzed and asked Lyonka to scoop out the garden. Obviously, the remains should be burned. The wind blew. The fire began to spread. Lyonka was frightened and locked himself in the house. Both are the invalid. Lyonka was taken to the police for an explanation…Lyonka ‘s mom is a pensioner. The sister is probably also an invalid. The losses of the Nature Reserve Fund (NRF) are likely to be huge. Will they be able to compensate? Not! Put behind bars? Make unhappy people victims. And, perhaps, he is insane. How to build an information campaign in this? To have at least some lesson.”

Later, Mr. Anatoly reported that a fine was imposed on the arsonist. And yet, yes, the whole village is now discussing this case.

A disabled person has been prosecuted, and the Criminal Code of Ukraine usually does not apply to liaisons with ties. Such a situation with fires in Mykolaiv region was described by the ecologist Muza Makhova: “Criminal responsibility for a fire in the spring in natural zones is not brought against it precisely because of the conspiracy of criminals, which include arsonists and the police. As a rule, everyone knows who is involved in arson every year, but they pretend that this is something incomprehensible, there is no investigation or punishment. Why is this done? Natural areas are being cleared by fire to make it easier to kill wild animals. Swamp set fire to poachers to drive out of the reeds of animals and birds: wild boars, deer, pheasants and other animals. From repeated burns reeds in some places begin to grow worse, not better. Poachers, who send a wall of roaring fire at an unfortunate, frightened beast, dream of shooting at it and then bragging about their actions to their friends. But the laws of Ukraine – fines and criminal proceedings for poaching and damage to the environment do not work. We all see what turns swamp after the actions of such shooters and just “vacationers”. The fire kills animals and birds, damages the soil.  Trees are dying. For example, on the islands below Kherson there are so few trees, there are mostly reeds. And when these thickets burn, the fire destroys the trees. The Dnieper Delta is gradually becoming forestless. The destruction and erosion of shores, shallowing of reservoirs take place.   

Everybody in Mykolaiv region suffers at the hands of hunters for wildlife, which every year becomes more and more scarce. Arson is an annual planned event for local “hunters” and “fishermen”. Who will punish them?

Reality show “Burn Ukraine”

The arsons has catastrophic consequences in the Odesa region. Iryna Vykhrystiuk  director of the «Tuzlovskye Lymany» beats an alarm here: “Everyone is dealing with this year’s threatening situation with the spring burnings. According to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SES), there were much more of them than usual. Sometimes this madness is like planned actions. In many who are justly indignant, there is only a sense of powerlessness. Facebook has become a platform for verdicts – someone wants to shoot arsonists and someone virtually raising fines. But so far we have not had any positive results.

In fact, any problem has its prerequisites, causes and consequences. Everyone hears about burnings throughout Ukraine. And who heard how many arsonists were exposed and actually brought to justice? Are there cases for the violator to compensate for the damage caused? I have not heard of such cases. You probably as well. Here are examples: large-scale fires in Kiliiskyi district, in particular in Vylkivske forestry – 50 hectares, March 19. We also noted in Tarutynskyi district. The damage caused to the environment is extremely great, but no one can compensate for it, because no one is looking for arsonists and, accordingly, will not be held accountable. There were several burnings on March 23. One of them is the shore of  the Dzhantsheiskyi liman near the Katranka recreational zone. As always, they tried to extinguish it with their bare hands, but the wind quickly spread the flame and there was a danger that the fire would reach the buildings. By the time the firemen arrived, the wind died down and the flames also fell. The problem of fires is aggravated by the fact that there are a lot of plastic and glass bottles in the reeds, which melted and kept the heat. ”

      We recognize that currently in Ukraine there are no effective mechanisms for preventing such crimes, responding quickly to them and eliminating the consequences. This means that we are not able to control the situation, we are flying into the abyss. We can only state (and accept?) that natural areas will continue to suffer, and this applies to the most valuable, which are also abut objects of nature reserves! There are several explanations for the current record-breaking spring burns: dry winter and shallow water, long-term absence of real punishment for arsonists, and there is no educational and preventive work.

Do you know that the right to draw up protocols under Article 77-1 “Unauthorized burning of vegetation or its remains” of the Code of Administrative Offenses of Ukraine was actually left to … public inspectors? It was confiscated even from the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SES) and from the State Ecological Inspectorate of Ukraine !!! I’m not saying that the State Protection Service (SPS) and Nature Reserve Fund (NRF) does not have such powers! That is, to knock down fires with branches, burn shoes on fire and be poisoned by smoke are normal things and to make the report on the violator – is not!

We appealed to the Ministry of Environment on this issue of expanding the powers of the Service of State Protection of the Nature Reserve Fund of Ukraine (no reaction so far). It is necessary to amend Article 255 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses.

https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/80732-10?find=1&text, namely: to include in the list of persons entitled to draw up protocols on administrative offenses under Articles 77, (violation of fire safety rules in forests) and 77-1 (unauthorized burning of vegetation or its remains) employees of the State Protection Service of Nature Reserve Fund facilities. And they should apply this right not only on the territory of the Nature Reserve Fund object, but also in the adjacent territories! And there is no need to tell or prove to anyone that the farmer is not guilty when the stubble burns in his field!

Under such conditions, we will take the first real step towards a radical change in the situation, in particular with regard to summer burnings. There are also ideas for spring. But first you need to take the first step.

The Eco-inspection works, but its capabilities are limited

“We are doing what we can,” – chairman of the State Ecological Inspectorate Ihor Yakovliev commented the situation to “Aktyvni Hromadiany” – Yes, state inspectors for environmental protection of the Volyn region as part of regional working groups together with representatives of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SES) of Ukraine in the Volyn region and the Department of the National Police in the region for the execution of the Instruction of the head of the Volyn regional State Administration of 02/26/2019. No. 1263/17 / 2-19 “On the prevention of fires in the ecosystems of the region during the fire hazardous period 2019″ conduct joint raids to identify the facts of burning dry vegetation.  

As of 10.04.2019, there were 72 joint trips carried out, during which the state inspectors for environmental protection of the Volyn region by burning dry grass, brought 74 citizens to administrative responsibility under Article 77-1 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses with the imposition of fines on the general the amount of UAH 14,000,280. There are few people working as part of our inspection, so we cannot physically be in time on all cases. In addition, the technical support of the State Environmental Inspection of Ukraine (SEI) – transport, etc., now needs to be improved. ”

In the meantime, the May Day rains ended and the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SES) warns of a high fifth level of fire hazard in the northern, western, central and Kharkiv regions, there is a high (4 classes) fire hazard in the rest of Ukraine. This situation creates the prerequisites for an increase in the number of fires in forests and natural ecosystems. On average, there are about 120 cases per day. The main causes of fires in open areas are human activities. In warm weather, citizens actively go to rest in the forests and organize their own households by burning garbage. However, it is worth remembering that in the 4th or 5th class of fire danger, even one unquenched match is enough to provoke a large-scale fire in the open area.

The State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SES) appeals to citizens to follow the basic rules of safety during outdoor recreation. During the fire-hazardous period it is forbidden:
– visiting coniferous forests when declaring an emergency fire danger of the 5th class;
– lighting fires in forests and plantations;
– driving to the forest;
– smoking or throwing loose matches or cigarette butts in the forest and forest plantations;
– leaving rags soaked in gasoline, kerosene, oil or other combustible substances in the forest;
– hunting in the forest with the use of firearms;
– creating landfills and incinerating waste;
– burning stubble and post-harvest residues in agricultural fields.

Оleg Listopad

Translated by Polina Bevz