It was just before 3 pm on Saturday afternoon that two fires broke out on the Russian side of the border at Øvre Pasvik in Finnmark. Waling Gorter stood on the Norwegian side of the border and photographed the black smoke from the fire site. According to Preben Aursand, spokesman for the Armed Forces’ operational headquarters, it burned 1-2 kilometers from the border, close to the town of Rajakoski. The Norwegian Border Police has not received any information from Russia about the fires, Border Commissioner Jens-Arne Høilund informs news. The police have not received any information about the fire either. The border between Norway and Russia is 198 km long. It stretches from Treriksrøysa to Grense Jakobselv. The border gets both on land and along watercourses. Assessed risk of spreading Pasvik border station notified of the fire, writes iFinnmark, which first mentioned the incident. The 110 exchange made assessments together with the Sør-Varanger fire brigade to move out to the border area. The emergency services believed that there was no danger of spreading to the Norwegian side and fire trucks were not sent to Øvre Pasvik. – But the police and the inhabitants are following the development, says Lars Rune Hagen, operations manager in the Finnmark police district. The Armed Forces’ operational headquarters tells news that the border guards also followed the development of the fire. Witness Waling Gorter was on a trip at Treriksrøysa where the borders of Norway, Russia and Finland meet. The place is located a few kilometers from Rajakoski. He witnessed the fires. – A small twin-engine border plane arrived on the Russian side. It turned out that there was a lot of noise in the engines, says Gorter to news. Gorter says the sound was the reason he reacted to the plane. – I turned around and there was an enormous amount of smoke rising. Gorter does not know if the smoke and the fire have any connection, but according to him the two incidents happened shortly after each other. – This could have been a plane crash, says Gorter who tells about the powerful engine sound. Then it became quiet before he eventually also smelled the fire. – There was a smell of rubber and something else. The fire could well be seen on the Norwegian side of the border between Norway and Russia. Photo: Waling Gorter Hearing sirens Right after the fire started, Gorter heard sirens in Russia. – It was such a fire alarm that went off. There was a lot of commotion on the other side. IFinnmark also tells of eyewitnesses who heard Russian voices and vehicles on the other side of the very strictly monitored border. Not mentioned in Russia Russian media have so far not mentioned the current fires in Rajakoski. But in a local group at VK, a Russian social medium, it is written that a border guard facility must have burned down the Russian settlement. Rajakoski is a “closed” town, which means you must have a permit to get there. Border guards are housed there and the Rajakoski hydropower plant is located here. Photo: Screenshot, taken at 21:50 11.06.2022 Area with forest fire danger According to Murmansk County, Rajakoski is an area where forest fires can occur. On this list, there are only eleven settlements in the large county. In the border area, they were today over 20 degrees Celsius, but still little forest fire danger.
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Heavy fire in military camp on Russian side of border with Norway – news Troms and Finnmark
