RIGA, July 20 (Xinhua) -- As firefighters continued to battle a major forest and peatbog fire that broke out in western Latvia earlier this week, smoke from the blaze reached nearby towns of Saldus and Talsi and even Latvia's neighbor country Lithuania on Friday, local media reported.
The choking smell of burning peat and wood could be felt as far as 35 kilometers from the municipality of Valdgale where the fire had started on Tuesday evening.
By Friday, the fire had destroyed more than 700 hectares of forests and peatland, authorities said.
On the third day of the firefighting operation, reinforcements were called to help rescuers contain the flames which were still spreading amid a quickly changing wind direction. Around 100 firemen, as well as personnel from the State Forest Service, the Latvian armed forces, National Guard and other services were involved in the firefighting effort on Wednesday, representatives of the State Fire and Rescue Service said.
Helicopters contributed by the Latvian State Border Guard, as well as the Latvian and Lithuanian armed forces, were providing aerial support to the firefighters on the ground.
Although it was raining in western Latvia on Friday afternoon it was not immediately clear whether it had helped in the battle against the wildfire.
The fire service was alerted to the wildfire in the western Latvian district of Talsi on the evening of July 17. On Wednesday night a small village was evacuated due to severe air pollution caused by the smoke from the wildfire and two firemen were treated for minor injuries.
