"It was always smoky." The Zalesye landfill fire in the Ivanovo region remains unextinguished.
The Zalesye landfill has been on fire since Saturday, September 16. in the Teikovsky district, poisoning all living things in the surrounding settlements.
According to official reports, the fire was contained over the weekend. However, residents village of Berkino (10 minutes drive to the landfill) рthey tell, that their area was shrouded in smoke so thick that they had to feel their way to the water pump.
"Yesterday, my 82-year-old grandmother called an ambulance. Her blood pressure was almost 200. This has never happened before. I've had this house since 95. It's always been smoky. But never before like this. It's impossible. This dump, I don't know, it's probably as old as me. Every year. It hasn't happened in a year. They seem to be monitoring it somehow. I think they're deliberately burning out the areas to clear them out.", — she suggested. Lyudmila Kokhan, a resident of the village of Berkino.
The last time the landfill burned was in March 2022. The prosecutor's office then determined the cause: when disposing of waste, the municipal enterprise "SAZHKh of the city of Ivanovo" failed to isolate the waste with layers of soil and stored prohibited items—used tires.
The cause of the fire this time is under investigation. Smoke from the smoldering waste currently covers six hectares. Efforts to extinguish the landfill are ongoing.
According to NeMoskva's calculations, fires occur with varying frequency in Russia. more than 60 garbage dumps and landfills. Just in the last month and a half, fires have broken out about 20 landfills and unauthorized dumps. Soon, NeMoskva will tell you where fires most often occur, how serious the consequences of landfill fires are for people and the environment, and how a landfill should be designed to avoid harming all living things in the area.
Photo: screenshots from IvanovoNews