Olga Popova, Geophysical engineer says over the years the living conditions in Barentsburg has been greatly improved. On October 17, 2006 Norwegian inspectors detected an underground, smoldering fire in Barentsburg, prompting fears that an open fire might break out, which would have forced the evacuation of all of Barentsburg for an indefinite period of time, and also cause unknown environment problems for the entire archipelago. As of November 3, the fire seemed to be contained, but there were lingering concerns about the mining company, Arktikugol Trust’s lack of equipment to handle the problem.