Drug Addicts and Homeless People. This is How It Is Here. The Residents of Vecmilgravis Are Distressed by a Group of Homeless 0 143

The sirens of emergency services lit up the streets of Vecmilgravis — they were called by local residents after a fire broke out on the first floor of one of the buildings. The firefighters managed to extinguish the flames within a few hours, and there were no casualties.

The next day, the janitor Indra inspected the scene and reported that several months ago local homeless people broke into an apartment and began using it for their purposes. Previously, a man lived here, and after his death, the premises were occupied by vagrants. "They drank and lived," Indra describes the new inhabitants.

They lived in the abandoned apartment for several months without interference — three, or maybe five men. According to locals, their days were spent in the company of drugs and alcohol, as evidenced by the found syringes and bottles. However, opinions among residents are divided on how much these "temporary neighbors" disturbed their peace.

"We contacted the building manager, told them, explained, but no one cared. [Degpunktā: Why did you contact them, for what?] Because of them. [Degpunktā: Did they disturb your life?] Of course!" says local resident Sergey.

"Drug addicts and homeless people. This is how it is here. We are scared to live here," says another resident of the building.

Sergey adds that he recently went to confront the residents of the first floor and shows his injured arm, allegedly sustained during the conflict: "I not only called the police, I also tried to educate them. Three more days passed. What is there to explain?"

One of the residents expresses a frightening version of the cause of the fire:

"I think someone set it on fire on purpose to drive them out of there. Everything caught fire so quickly — poof, and nothing was left."

However, other residents, including Indra, are not inclined to suspect arson — according to them, at the time of the fire, the homeless were inside and are to blame for what happened. The woman also mentions that these same people regularly roam the houses in search of a new suitable shelter.

Degpunktā reached out to "Rīgas namu pārvaldnieks" with a question about why residents' complaints are ignored and why these people are not evicted from the building.

"As the management, we change the locks and try to prevent outsiders from entering the apartment. We will now close the windows and doors, but unfortunately, experience shows that this may not be enough. Often there are repeated attempts to break in. In such cases, the municipality as the owner can decide to hire security — we, as the management, will carry out this order," said the written comment from "Rīgas namu pārvaldnieks."

The State Police notes that there are no signs of arson — the cause was likely negligence in handling fire. The men ran out of the apartment and disappeared into the streets of Vecmilgravis. Their whereabouts are currently unknown.