Russian forest fire smoke drifts into Finnish Lapland
Emergency services have received reports of smoke in the region over the past few days.
Smoke from a large forest fire in northwestern Russia has continued to drift into northern Finnish Lapland, according to local authorities.
Rescue services in Lapland have received several reports about the smell of smoke in the region over the past several days, according to the agency’s on-duty chief, Mika Hyvärinen.
If winds continue blowing westward, the smoke will continue to affect areas around Inari and Utsjoki, in the far north of Finnish Lapland, Hyvärinen explained.
Located about 125 km from the Finnish border, the Russian wildfire is “quite large”, and so far has affected an estimated area of 1,000 hectares, he said.
That estimate was based on satellite images examined by Finnish rescue services, because there has been no exchange of information between the countries’ rescue services. However, Finnish and Russian border authorities have discussed the situation.
Russia has battled a large number of forest fires this summer. Last month Reuters reported that the country was fighting more than 220 blazes across 20 regions.
According to Hyvärinen, the drifting smoke from the blaze observed in Lapland is not dangerous and local residents do not need to close their windows or shut down ventilation systems.
“Pure wood is burning there,” he said.
Hyvärinen added that while people do not need to worry about dangers posed by drifting smoke, any new observations of smoke — and particularly of fires — on the Finnish side of the border should be reported immediately to the emergency services number 112.
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: N.W.T. Indigenous governments get $15M to deal with 2023 wildfires’ impact, CBC News
Norway: Smoke from Canadian wildfires forecast to reach Norway, The Associated Press
Russia: New NOAA report finds vast Siberian wildfires linked to Arctic warming, The Associated Press
Sweden: High risk of wildfires in many parts of Sweden, including North, Radio Sweden
United States: Wildfires in Anchorage? Climate change sparks disaster fears, The Associated Press
