School pupils in Latvia are enjoying a week’s holiday, and they and their parents are being urged not turn the break into a tragedy by by venturing onto the winter ice cover that still remains on many lakes and ponds.
“It’s very dangerous to be on the ice anywhere. Even three children have been rescued. Ten people in total,” said the head of the State Fire and Rescue Service (VUGD) Mārtiņš Baltmanis in an interview on the Latvian Television’s “Rīta Panorāma” on Monday morning.
From March 6th to the start of March 9th, the VUGD received 145 calls, 67 of which were for rescue operations of one sort or another (42 calls were hoaxes or false alarms).
“Firefighters and rescuers remind that ice on bodies of water is currently very unsafe. As the air temperature rises, the thickness of the ice decreases, it becomes looser, fluctuations in the water level break it, and thus it becomes even more dangerous,” said the VUGD.
On Saturday, the VUGD received a call to Baltezers on the outskirts of Rīga where three people were on the ice approximately 200 meters from the shore. With the help of a lifeboat, the people, two of whom were minors, were brought to shore.
Also in Jurmala, a child was found on a piece of broken ice approximately 40 metres from the shore. Firefighters and rescuers rescued the minor and brought him to shore.
On Sunday, a man fell through the ice on the River Lielupe in Jelgava. He managed to get out of the water back onto the ice himself, but firefighters and rescuers brought him to shore.
“The VUGD urges you not to pass by indifferently if you see children or teenagers skating on unsafe ice – warn them of the danger, but if you notice that people have gone too far from the shore and may have problems returning, as well as if a person has broken through the ice, call 112 immediately,” urged the VUGD.
While one of winter’s dangers remains, spring also brings its perils in the form of the notorious grass fires or ‘kūla’ fires that have already been recorded. Landowners deliberately and illegally set fires to burn off last year’s stubble, but run a severe risk of the fire getting out of control, as well as sending choking smoke billowing across the landscape over a large area.
On Friday, the first grass fire of this year was registered in Latvia – a 400 m² grass field burned in the Roja parish of Talsi region. The call was received at 14:36 and the fire was extinguished in less than an hour. Five haystack fires have already been extinguished in the past three days.
“The VUGD reminds that burning stubble is a prohibited and punishable act. It can pose a threat to human health and life, as well as cause significant damage to the environment,” said the VUGD, as they do every single year – though there remain plenty of people who ignore this advice and continue to burn off last year’s grass with abandon almost as a spring ritual.
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