Sweden is hit by the worst forest fires since the 1950s

The Municipality of Ljusdal has established temporary housing for the 70 to 90 people who have left their homes in the city of Kårböle.

Egon Botin and his family own a farm in one of the towns of Ljusdal Municipality

– When I heard the mermaids on the road, I realized we had to evacuate, says Botin to Aftenposten.

Botin has been prepared that this could happen since Saturday.

– We arrived from the west coast on Saturday, then saw smoke and I notified the fire department. The fire was extinguished, but it was extinguished again, he says.

The family runs for tourists fishing and waits for guests from Germany on Saturday. Now, Botin is trying to contact them to tell them that their stay needs to be canceled.

Lövven: very bad fire situation

Thursday afternoon, a total of 49 fires in Sweden, according to SVT. 15 fires are out of control, said Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven at a press conference Thursday.

– The fire situation in Sweden is now very serious, according to Löfven at the press conference in Gävleborg

Härjedalen, Älvdalen and Ljusdal are particularly affected. In this last place, the fire has quadrupled in a day.

In Härjedalen and Dalarna, respectively 60 and 40 residences were evacuated, while 120 people were evacuated in Hälsingland. In addition, about thirty people have been ordered to evacuate the village of Finneby, according to Swedish radio.

Jerker Blomqvist and his wife Birgitta also evacuated Thursday with their daughter, son-in-law, grandson and two dogs

– Are you nervous about what's happening on the farm?

] – No. I do not think the fire is spreading so far. We also live just 75 meters from the water, but you can never know, "says Bodin.

Heavy Smoke

While Aftenposten heads towards the Ljusdal municipality on Thursday night, the smoke is like a thick layer of air and shadows for the sun. The municipal center is located south of the northwest light.

Operational leader for fire extinguishing in Ljusdal, Hans Nornholm said Thursday evening on Swedish radio P4 Gävleborg that they had had a good effect on forest fires in Italy [19659002] – We have no control over the fire. the fast fronts we had earlier, said Nornholm.

He points out that it still burns heavily.

The demolition process is demanding in many ways. A P4 Radio journalist in Sweden, who has been with firefighters in areas that they are putting out, says that the fire destroys the roots of the trees so that they fall into the ground . Occlusion therefore poses a great risk for firefighters.

The biggest fire in the country since the 1950s

The Swedish Directorate of Social Security and Preparedness (MSB) confirms above Swedish radio that the area burned in Sweden is today the worst since the 50s. It's also bigger than the fire in Västmanland in 2014. Then 140,000 goals went in the forest.

Only in the regions of Gävleborg, Jämtland, Dalarna and Norrbotten, areas totaling more than 200 000 fire targets.

Ljusdal is the hardest hit, which indicates to Swedish radio that an area of ​​100,000 targets is on fire. It has doubled since Wednesday.

– It is very disturbing that it has spread so quickly, says Torbjörn Wannqvist, Deputy Chief of Defense, SVT Gävleborg.

Help from the EU and neighboring countries

According to Aftonbladet, two Italian firefighters were placed in the fire works in Härjedalen and Ljusdal. In addition, France has promised to contribute two more flights.

On Thursday afternoon, Britta Ramberg announced in MSB that Germany was installing with three helicopters and that Lithuania was installing a firefly.

– Cooperation with the EU and neighboring countries is a central element of the quelling efforts, Prime Minister Löfven said at the press conference.

Norway loaned ten helicopters to fight forest fires. In addition, volunteer firefighters from Trøndelag attend. From the neighboring country to the south, 22 Danish firefighters will be rescued on Thursday.

The government criticizes the preparation

The opposition is very critical with regard to preparation for forest fires in Sweden. Several parties want to convene a special meeting of the Swedish Defense Committee.

– 70% of Sweden is forest. Mikael Oscarsson in the Christian Democrats

The party is one of four center-right parties criticizing the government's management of the 50 wildfires now. reigns in Sweden

At the press conference, Löfven stressed that the country is in an exceptional situation with little rain and a long period of heat.

– This increases the vulnerability of the country. We need to increase our readiness to prepare for extreme weather conditions, he said, while stressing that it is now mainly to extinguish fires.

Some of the critics have arisen why Sweden does not have specially equipped firefighters like Italy. To this end, Löfven suggested that it is best to exchange resources across national borders.

– These planes would have been standing on the hill for long periods of time. The planes coming in now are more professional, Löfven said.