Wildfire leads to closure of section of highway near Pärnu

A section of highway in southwestern Estonia was closed Sunday evening while firefighters fought a nearby brush fire.
The blaze took place in a wilderness area near Häädemeeste, Pärnu County, less than 30km from the border with Latvia, and resulted in the Tallinn-Pärnu-Ikla highway being closed for several hours.
The Rescue Board (Päästeamet) wrote that: "The fire is about one hectare in area. The fire has been contained, its sources are being investigating and extinguishing work is underway."
The board was alerted to the fire just before 3.50 p.m. on Sunday, with the location given as Krundiküla, a few kilometers from Häädemeeste.

The highway, part of the Via Baltica (E67), was closed and remained so as of of 6 p.m. while the conflagration was brought under control, while traffic was diverted, marshaled by the Police and Border Guard Board. The diversion led to traffic delays.
The Rescue Board declared the fire extinguished at 8 p.m. on Sunday, and the affected section of highway was then reopened.
While the weather in Estonia has only recently warmed up, there has been little precipitation in the preceding weeks, prompting fire warnings to be issued in several parts of the country late last week.
--
Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!
Editor: Andrew Whyte, Aleksander Krjukov