al. reported on the possibility of increased mobility of caesium, strontium, and plutonium due to grass and forest fires. As an experiment, fires were set and the levels of the radioactivity in the air downwind of these fires was measured. Grass and forest fires have happened inside the contaminated zone, releasing radioactive fallout into the atmosphere. In 1986, a series of fires destroyed of forest, and several other fires have since burned within the zone. A serious fire in early May 1992 affected of land, including of forest. This resulted in a great increase in the levels of caesium-137 in airborne dust. In 2010, a series of wildfires affected contaminated areas, specifically the surroundings of Bryansk and border regions with Belarus and Ukraine. The Russian government claimed that there was no discernible increase in radiation levels, while Greenpeace accused the government of denial. On 4 April 2020, a fire broke in the Zone on at least 20 hectares of Ukrainian forests. Approximately 90 firefighters were deployed to extinguish the blaze, as well as a helicopter and two aircraft. Radiation is still present in these forests, making firefighting more difficult; authorities stated that there was no danger to the surrounding population. The previous reported fire was in June 2018. Current state of the ecosystem Despite the negative effect of the disaster on human life, many scientists see an overall beneficial effect to the ecosystem. Though the immediate effects of the accident were negative, the area quickly recovered and is today seen as very healthy. The lack of people in the area has increased the biodiversity of the Exclusion Zone in the years since the disaster. In the aftermath of the disaster, radioactive contamination in the air had a decidedly negative effect on the fauna, vegetation, rivers, lakes, and groundwater of the area. The radiation resulted in deaths among coniferous plants, soil invertebrates, and mammals, as well as a decline in reproductive numbers among both plants and animals. The surrounding forest was covered in radioactive particles, resulting in the death of 400 hectares of the most immediate pine trees, though radiation damage can be found in an area of tens of thousands of hectares. An additional concern is that as the dead trees in the Red Forest (named for the color of the dead pines) decay, contamination is leaking into the groundwater. Despite all this, Professor Nick Beresford, an expert on Chernobyl