Huge wildfire in Latvia forces evacuation

RIGA: Latvian authorities on Wednesday ordered the evacuation of a village threatened by a wildfire in the west of the Baltic state as firefighters struggled to control the blaze.
Clouds of smoke and ash from the fire choked the small community of Stikli, forcing the evacuation of dozens of residents including handicapped children from a boarding school, the state fire and rescue service said.
The fire broke out in a peat bog in the Kurzeme region on Tuesday before quickly engulfing bone-dry forests nearby.
The blaze covers an area of nearly 200 football pitches (180ha), according to firefighters.
"Firefighting is very problematic, as this part of Kurzeme is only sparsely populated, the roads are few and narrow and many areas are inaccessible due to vast marshlands," said Zigmunds Jaunkirkis, an official with the State Forestry Department.
The army and national guard deployed a specialised helicopter on Wednesday to help firefighters fight the flames.
Neighbouring Lithuania has also sent a helicopter while residents from the nearby port city of Ventspils have started to form volunteer units.
Daytime temperatures of up to 30°C and strong winds have fanned the flames amid a long heatwave.
No substantial rain is forecast for the next two weeks.
An EU and Nato member of 1.9 million people, Latvia has suffered from severe drought in recent months, forcing its government to declare a national disaster in the farm sector in June. — AFP