Most of the fires, abetted by an unusual drought lasting already for several weeks, have been contained or put out. The greatest of them, the Olaine peat swamp fire, covered a 330 hectare area some 20 km from Riga. The fire started on May 11 in a bog owned by Olaine Peat company during a night of gale force winds.
National guard soldiers, Jelgava forestry crews and Riga Council's forest service has been helping the state forest service. Fear of ticks bearing Lyme's Disease kept local residents out of the fight.
The Olaine fire refused to go out.
"Now we can't stifle it. We just try to keep it from spreading. It is senseless work to some extent. Only a good rainfall can choke the fire," said Janis Erins, head of the Olaine district forestry unit.
The swamp's location away from the road hampered firefighting.
"It is impossible to drive up there. There is no water. You have to bring this all in there, pumps and fire hoses. You have do everything with your hands," said Selva Sulce, of the state forest service.
People drive as far as they can, then go on foot. The forest service has no heavy cars, but the Olaine Peat company provided five bulldozers.
"We try to provide the firefighters with food and water as we can. The Olaine municipality does not want or cannot help us right now. I don't know. It is hard to comment," said Sulce. "There were some persons helping, but just because of personal initiative or consciousness, because if there is something burning next to you, one has to help."
Sulce said fires are detected from the network of 197 observation towers covering the country's forests.
"It is hard to say now where the first report on this fire came from, probably from our watchers."
There is always someone watching the forest and bogs from the fire observation towers which are 40-45 meters high.
"Because of the heavy winds we had last week, people could not be there. It is too dangerous. The wind there is stronger, so you are not allowed to climbup. When the wind speed is 15 to 17 meters per second (33 mph to 38 mph), people are advised to avoid it," said Sulce.
"The heaviest winds recorded were on May 11 and 12 in Riga, Bauska and Rujiena vicinities, with wind gusts recorded reaching 20 to 22 meters per second. In the rest of Latvia, the wind was 15 to 18 meters per second," Rasma Kleinberga of the Forecast Division of the state Hydrometeorology Service.
"What people do," Sulce continues "is climb from time to time up the towers to see whether some new smoke has appeared. "The heavy winds and the weather conditions Latvia experienced last week, and unfortunately are predicted for the next one, even my older colleagues do not recall ever happening."
The wind caused difficulties for the state forest service, complicating firefighting in two ways.
"First, it is difficult to bring the fire under control, because the movement of fire, driven by the wind, is unpredictable. The peat cinders are very light and are driven by the wind to the gates of hell," said Sulce. Second, because of the stormy wind, you physically cannot work there," said Sulce.
The severe winds came in addition to a dry spell uncommon for this time, although April and May are usually the driest two months. But this year, "Latvia did not enjoy decent rain for a considerable time, although last week there was slushy snow in some places, said Kleinberga.
"If we speak about precipitation in general, then since April 17-18 there was very little. In most of Latvia, the precipitation was from one to five mm, only 2 percent to 4 percent of the seasonal norm. Only in several Vidzeme regions (northeastern Latvia) and in Daugavpils was there a bit more: 9 mm to 12 mm, but only 25 percent to 30 percent of the regular norm. Besides, the relative humidity of the air is low all the time, especially during the daytime," she said.
To reduce the risk of fires in Latvia's forests, the forest service announced fire danger rules on April 20. Still, this year there have already been 421 fires. The vast majority broke out in regions near large cities - Riga and Daugavpils.
The fires are usually caused by carelessness, but Sulce said anything could have started the Olaine swamp fire, and the cause will be difficult to detect.
"This year the wood and peat piles burn as usual, but in bogs where peat is harvested, fires are breaking out more often," said Sulce.
At press time, the forest service was fighting only four fires in Latvia, but to douse the fires and to prevent new ones, firefighters hoped for heavy rainfall. But the forecast for this weekend was not encouraging. "We expect some rainfall," said Kleinberga, "but we don't know how heavy it will be."
On May 16, Olaine fire, then contained, had burned a greater area than twice the total forest burned during the previous week. Firefighters had been battling the conflagration since May 11 when it was first spotted.
"People probably are working there with black faces," Sulce said.
"Smothering a peat fire is more difficult than putting out a forest fire. The smoke is more dense and compact, worsening visibility. Big voids form under the earth's surface, when the peat burns out. One moment you just stand there, and the next you lose the ground under your feet. It is good if you don't fall this way into the burning peat. We have already had some cars and pumps drowning in the bog."
Erins, who had been coordinating the fight where 40 people worked 12-hour shifts since the fire was discovered, said no rain would be bad news.
"The main fire is under control now, but if there is no rain, the peat will continue to smolder," he said.
The forest service has cooperation agreements with the municipal governments, that say municipalities have to fight fires breaking out in their areas.
"According to morals, if I scream for help, you help me," Sulce said.
Aivars Poznaks, head of the Olaine rural district board, excused their passivity.
"The smothering of a peat fire is a very specific task" he said.
Asked whether the Olaine district people helped the state forest service to combat the fire, he said there were serious barriers.
"Do you know what tick-borne encephalitis means? Do you know how many of our people are vaccinated against it?
"Another question is whether the Olaine fireman guard is vaccinated against it. I don't think so, maybe some on an individual basis. The state did not allocate any money for this purpose," said Poznaks.
"To get people in the forest, the first question is the encephalitis. To force or to coax someone into doing it is very difficult," said Poznaks.
The coordination of the firefighting operation is good, said Sulce.
"But the problem is a shortage of people, because when all the people are concentrated in a particular area, say the Olaine peat swamp, and a fire starts somewhere else, you have to move people.
"We did not deny any help in terms of money. Last year we financially backed the Olaine firemen, though it is completely a state structure. If there is no rain, we will have to help them a lot this year too."
Poznaks said, "in our agreement with the state forest service, in the case of the fire, we provide one tanker to bring water and recruit up to 20 volunteers from our people."
On May 15, three days after the fire broke out, Poznaks said, they had not yet recruited these people.
"I didn't think there was such a critical situation needing us to participate. You know that on Thursday and Friday (May 11, 12) because of the wind, it was impossible to do anything there. It was possible to localize the fire, but still it continued to spread."
"The forest service is ready to do what it has to," said Sulce, "until it goes over the limits of human capacity."
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