Lithuania to temporarily limit access to forests due to fire risk

A heat wave in Lithuania prompted the country's Ministry of Environment to ask residents to forgo visiting forests due to a fire risk, an official of the ministry said on Monday.

According to Linas Jonauskas, vice minister of environment, the fire risk in most of the country's forest districts reached the level 3 or 4, based on local classification, which means an increased risk of fires.

"Thunderstorms on Sunday somewhat decreased the risk. However, in a day or two, due to the current weather, 3 or 4 level fire risk will prevail, which means there is a real danger of fires," Jonauskas was quoted as saying by ELTA news agency.

"Therefore, we ask municipalities to employ their right of restricting access to the forests," he told reporters.

If visiting of forests is restricted, people would be informed by local media, also by information boards at the entrance to the forests. Blocking of certain roads leading to the places of likely fire danger might be carried out.

Southern Lithuania is placed on the highest alert, Jonauskas added.

Those trying to bypass likely restrictions will face fines starting from 57 euros (62 U.S. dollars). However, in case of fires in the places of limited access, "striking fines" of thousands of euro could be applied, based on the extent of damage

The Lithuanian Hydrometeorological Service under the Ministry of Environment expects the forest fire risk to remain at 3-4 level on August 11-12 in most of the districts, the service announced on its website.

The level 3 means medium risk, while level 4 and 5 points to respectively high and extremely high risk of fires.

Hot and dry weather, alongside with short storms, is being forecast all this week in Lithuania. The temperature might hit 31 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, the meteorological service said.

According to the Ministry of Environment, 33.3 percent of the territory of Lithuania is covered by forests.