Ida-Viru County forest fire area spreads to over eight hectares
The current warm and dry spell, twinned with the light breezes, mean a high risk of brush fires in Estonia, with another case reported Monday in a remote area close to the village of Konsu, Ida-Viru County.
The Rescue Board (Päästeamet) suggests a potential cause was members of the public using off-road vehicles in tinder-dry areas.
By Tuesday the fire had spread to the neighboring Toila Rural Municipality. Konsu itself is in Alutaguse Rural Municipality.
The fire is currently smoldering through peat soil and shrubland in a previously quarried area, and has spread into a nearby forest, overall covering around eight hectares as of Tuesday.
It is accessible to firefighters only by off-road vehicles, complicating the extinguishing process.
Valvi Väli, field commander of the Eastern Rescue Board center said that extinguishing efforts could last up to a week.
The likely culprit was motor vehicles, for instance ATVs or motorcycles, traversing the tinder dry peat soil, given the presence of fresh tire tracks in the affected area.
Firefighting efforts are being conducted across four assigned sections, while a hose of nearly 6 kilometers in length is being used, taking water from the disused quarry.
The Emergency Response Center (Häirekeskus) received reports of billowing smoke in the vicinity of Konsu village at just before 10:15 a.m. on Monday morning, while it took until just after 1:30 p.m. for firefighters to locate the source of this smoke, thanks to the inaccessible nature of the terrain.
Since the wind was at the time blowing towards the forest, there was a clear and present risk of a forest fire developing.
Firefighting efforts were halted overnight but resumed during the day on Tuesday, as the conflagration spread to neighboring Toila Rural Municipality.
Fire crews from the nearby settlements of Iisaku, Kiviõli, Narva, Narva-Jõesuu, and Sillamäe, along with volunteer firefighters (Pääasteliit) from Purtse, have been working at the scene.
The fire service warns that there remains a high risk of fire in nature across Estonia.
Weather forecasts are for dry and sunny weather, increasing the fire hazard on a daily basis.
The Rescue Board therefore urges the public to refrain from setting up barbecues or bonfires in non-designated zones, to avoid smoking in forested and wilderness areas, and to avoid driving motor vehicles in these same areas.
A forest fire near Kukruse, also in Ida-Viru County, had already tied down Rescue Board resources starting last weekend.
No official fire risk warning has been issued as of yet.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Merili Nael
