In terms of the number of fatalities in fires, the past winter in Latvia was tragic, stated Martiņš Baltmanis, the head of the State Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS), in an interview with Latvian Radio.
He reported that in the first two months of this year, 25 people died as a result of fires, while during the same period last year, nine died.
The number of people rescued in fires has also significantly increased - this year, 124 people were saved compared to 27 last year.
As Baltmanis noted, although the number of fires in the first two months of this year was not significantly higher than last year, they turned out to be more destructive.
