Rīta Panorāma

Dārza padomi: karš ar pūkainajām bruņutīm

Rīta Panorāma

Intervija ar Zaigu Pūci

Telefonintervija ar Intu Palkavnieci

Firefighters continue to battle major forest blaze

Take note – story published 5 years ago

A major forest fire not far from the city of Talsi is continuing to burn for a second day, State Fire and Rescue Service (VUGD) spokeswoman Inta Palkavniece told LTV July 19.

Such is the difficulty of tackling the blaze that one firefighter has been hospitalized while several others have received minor injuries treated on-site.

The fire continued through the night with firefighters ringed around the perimeter to try to prevent the further spread of the fire. It has now been burning for more than 36 hours.

More than 50 firefighters are currently working on the site and, in order to assess the situation from the air, two helicopters are being used, including one that has joined the effort from neighboring Lithuania. 

However, the VUGD also asked members of the public and media outlets to refrain from flying drones over the site as they risked injuring firefighters and further complicating the situation.

Palkavniece also reminded the public that due to dry weather the fire risk in forests is currently very high, and advised them to stay well away from the current blaze.

"First of all, we encourage people not to come close to the fire and also do not plan to take walks in surrounding forests," said Palkavniece.

The fire was first reported on the evening of July 17. On July 18 most residents of the village of Stikli were evacuated from their homes as a precaution.

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