RIGA - A series of major fires have broken out near Riga, causing significant material damage and ravaging hundreds of thousands of square meters of land.
Three massive fires broke out between June 7 and 9 in Bolderaja, the Brasa Jail and Jurmala. The fires have caused the State Fire Service to raise the warning level to the highest possible level in some areas.
"The Forest Service has raised the level of fire warning to class four [near Riga] because of the dry weather and extreme likelihood of fires starting," a representative of the State Fire Service said.
In the dry, forested areas of southern Latvia, the warning level has been set to five 's the highest possible rating.
"People really need to be more aware and use safety precautions when building fires and making sure their cigarettes are fully put out. It only takes one spark to start a fire," he said.
The largest of the three fires was the one in Jurmala, which quickly ballooned to consume more than 30 hectares of land. The blaze broke out in five to seven locations simultaneously at about 10 p.m. on June 8.
The State Fire Service, the National Forestry Service and local volunteers were helping to battle the blaze, but high winds made controlling the flames difficult.
As The Baltic Times went to press, the fire was approaching a residential area in Jurmala, a popular seaside resort town. Rescue workers were considering evacuating the area, but had not yet come to a decision.
Police and firefighters suspect it was a case of arson.
Police representatives said they would open an investigation as soon as the State Fire Service was able to fully extinguish the blaze and provide information on the probable cause of the fire.
The blaze erupted a day after another major fire devastated the Brasa Jail in Riga. The fire caused significant structural damage to the jail and destroyed about 800 square meters of land.
Inga Vetere, a representative of the State Fire and Rescue Service said two buildings were on fire 's one two-story and one three-story building. The burning buildings house a tailoring shop, a sanitary unit and living accommodations.
Firefighters were called to the scene at 11:46 a.m. and were able to get the fire under control in about an hour. Some 10 fire trucks were sent to combat the blaze. The fire was declared especially dangerous when one of the burning buildings' slate roof caved in.
Police were forced to evacuate the jail, but nobody was harmed and none of the prisoners managed to escape during the incident.
The cause of the fire is suspected to be a cigarette that was left burning in one of the building's smoking rooms.
Justice Minister Gaidis Berzins is to ask the government to allocate funding for the renovation of the jail.
Meanwhile, another major fire raged through the Riga suburb of Bolderaja, consuming about seven hectares of state-owned forest.
"There was a problem with getting water in to the area since it was fairly remote. We worked with the Riga Railway to bring in water by train and then transport that water to the affected area," the State Fire Service representative said.
"We don't know what started the fire but probably a matter of negligence, people throwing out a cigarette or not being careful with flammable materials," he said.
Four fire trucks were sent to help fight the blaze.
Latvia has one of the worst fire safety records in the EU. According to the World Health Organization, from 1993 's 2001 Latvia consistently ranked as one of the two deadliest countries in Eastern Europe in terms of fire. Oddly enough, the only country with a worse track record was Estonia.
Latvians are infamously negligent with fire. Every spring hundreds of farmers burn their dry grass 's a practice known as "kula" in Latvian 's which in turns leads to forest fires and death.
