Danish Air Force Surveys Greenland Wildfire From Above

Footage shot by Danish armed forces aircraft on August 8 shows a wildfire that has been burning near Sisimiut, in western Greenland’s Qeqqata municipality, since early July.

The video was released on Wednesday, August 14, by Forsvaret, the Danish armed forces.
Forsvaret said it had rescued two tourists and a guide who unknowingly entered the fire zone the night before.

Forsvaret also said it received a request on Sunday, August 11, from Greenland officials seeking support in fighting the fire, and said it dispatched 38 personnel and a C-130J transport aircraft with equipment on board. Qeqqata officials reported the arrival of the aircraft and personnel on Tuesday, August 13.

The fire near Sisimiut was one of an unusually large number of fires burning across the Arctic Circle in the summer of 2019, as scientists expressed concern over rising temperatures.

Mark Parrington of the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) on July 22 described the fires across the Arctic Circle as “unprecedented.” Credit: Forsvaret via Storyful