Forest fire on Kola peninsula brought under control

The forest fire which broke out on Sunday night in the East of the Kola peninsula on the White sea has been brought under control on an area about four hectares.

On Monday the natural resources committee of the Murmansk region said that the fire was spotted from the air. Helicopters and forest protection teams have been engaged in extinguishing the forest fire.

The committee thinks the fire was caused by a lightning during a dry thunderstorm. Lightning-caused forest fires in the Murmansk region are very rare. The much more often cause is fires left by man.

Since the start of the spring-summer season 238 forest fires have been registered in the territory of the Kola peninsula; about 2,000 hectares of forest has burnt out.