She screamed: Help, help! A neighbor recounted the nightmare experienced in Kazdanga 0 2

The way to the apartment where a fire occurred less than a day ago can be found by the smell of smoke – it is noticeable even in the yard. If you look up, you can see the charred window opening left open to air out the unpleasant smell a bit. After the incident, the owner of the apartment left and left a note on the door. Her neighbor recounted what happened.

"Her husband went down to the car, was coming back up, and heard Marite screaming: 'Help, Kaspar, help, Kaspar!' It's good that he returned from work in time," says the neighbor of the elderly woman named Santa.

She continued: "There was a gas cylinder in the apartment, anything could have happened. Madness, yes, thank God, everything turned out fine. [DP: Was she calling for help from inside?] Yes, yes, yes! She was inside, the smoke had already risen. She was screaming: 'Help, help!' At that moment, my husband realized something was wrong, opened the door – everything was already in smoke."

Seeing the thick smoke, the neighbors immediately called the firefighters and warned the other residents of the building. While waiting for the rescuers, they tried to extinguish the fire themselves, but unsuccessfully.

"She was apparently already trying to put it out, but she couldn't – everything was in smoke. My husband went upstairs, grabbed a bucket, I thought he would pour it out, but it was already pointless – everything was in smoke. He even ran inside, but there was nothing to breathe. Even the firefighters crawled inside on all fours," the neighbor recounts.

While the rescuers were doing their job, the elderly woman told the neighbors that everything happened accidentally. In the room, she lit a candle and stepped into the kitchen for a minute to get medicine. When she returned, she found that the candle had tipped over, and the flame had spread to the furniture.

"In the hallway, the ceilings, walls, and wallpaper – everything is black. The ceilings are all covered in soot, and in the room, new wallpaper will have to be put up. [DP: So everything is more covered in soot?] Well, yes. More has burned out. The window needs to be replaced, the TV burned out. Well, as usual. We will go help with the repairs so that everything is in order for her by Christmas. That's how it is," says Santa.

The woman's apartment did not have a smoke detector installed. Its loud signal would have helped the neighbors understand earlier that a disaster had occurred and possibly extinguish the fire themselves.

"The most tragic fires often occur in small areas, with smoldering or burning with a small flame, resulting in the intense release of combustion products. In a smoky environment, a person only needs to take a few breaths to feel unwell, and then lose consciousness. That is why a smoke detector is necessary, which warns of smoke with an audible signal and allows people to escape," emphasizes GPSS representative Sandra Veinya.

The elderly woman was lucky – she managed to escape from the smoky apartment in time, and she was not harmed. However, returning to normal life in the apartment is still far off – a major renovation lies ahead.