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Latvia to seek international help to extinguish Valdgale fire

BC, Riga, 23.07.2018.Print version

Latvia will seek international help to extinguish a major peat and forest fire in Valdgale County, Agriculture Minister Janis Duklavs (Greens/Farmers) and Interior Minister Rihards Kozlovskis (Unity) announced after the Crisis Management Council's meeting on Monday, July 23, 2018, informs LETA.

The government will have an emergency meeting at 4 p.m. to vote on the motion.

Kozlovskis told reporters that Latvia would seek all 28 European Union countries' help to cope with the fire, and that Latvia mostly needs aerial support at the moment.


As reported, the State Fire and Rescue Service, assisted by a Lithuanian Air Force helicopter, have been battling the fire for six days.


LETA also reported, the fire in a peat bog in Valdgale County started Tuesday evening and later spread into the nearby forest.


According to the European Union's Copernicus emergency management service, the fire in Valdgale County had destroyed 267 hectares of forest, 311.7 hectares of bushland and 431.8 hectares of peat bog by Sunday.


Residents of Stikli Village, located near the fire, were evacuated last week but most had returned to their homes by Saturday, Ventspils Region Council's Chairman Aivars Mucenieks (Greens/Farmers) told.

 





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