Mushroom season prompts 28 forest search calls in Latvia

Mushroom and berry pickers are heading into Latvia’s forests in increasing numbers, but efforts to fill their baskets can end with them getting lost, LSM reported. The State Fire and Rescue Service has received 28 calls this year about people lost in forests, with drones increasingly used in searches.

Help is most often needed by people picking mushrooms alone and seniors who enter the forest by themselves without telling anyone where they are going.

State Fire and Rescue Service Latgale service department operational duty officer Major Edgars Kerubins said many people went into the forest unprepared and without informing anyone. In some cases, their phone batteries were almost fully discharged, allowing them only to report that they were lost and give an approximate location. Further searches then had to rely on sound signals and calls.

Drones are increasingly helping rescuers search for missing people. Their infrared sensors can detect a person’s approximate location from body heat, while operators can maintain contact with the person and determine their direction and distance. This helps rescuers decide how to locate or evacuate them.

A drone can cover an area of about two kilometres. Its built-in loudspeaker allows rescuers to address a missing person and give instructions.

However, technology also has limitations in forests. People most often get lost in unfamiliar areas and larger forest tracts, where foliage makes them harder to find. Kerubins said it is easier to locate someone from the air if they reach a clearing or leave the forest.

A State Border Guard helicopter can also join searches. On the ground, rescuers use quad bikes, the sound and light signals of tanker trucks, and thermal cameras. If they can reach a missing person by phone, rescuers help them choose the correct direction to leave the forest.