A few days ago, a fire occurred in one of the abandoned houses in the Riga neighborhood of Kipsala. This is the second case of fire in this building in just over a year. Since the first fire, the house has not been inhabited, but judging by the circumstances of the current incident, someone may have broken through the barriers and illegally entered, reports TV3 News.
The first fire in the two-story building on Zvejnieku Street occurred in September last year. At that time, the last residents were left homeless. One of them shared in the program Degpunktā that she was disappointed by what had happened:
"Yes, I lived here for many years. I gathered what I could from my belongings," the woman said. When asked if everything was okay with her apartment, she replied: "What’s good about it... Hell knows what’s going on here."
Neighbors claim that since that incident, no one has officially lived in the building. However, despite the barriers set up around the building, a fire occurred again.
"Apparently, someone broke in; fire doesn’t just start on its own," said a witness living next door.
He adds that the electricity in the building has long been turned off. This is the second case of fire. The first time, people were still living in the house, and it was suspected that the fire was caused by electrical wiring. Now, there are reasons to believe that outsiders have entered the premises.
"I woke up at eight in the morning — I saw terrible smoke out the window," said a neighbor. She did not go to find out what happened but saw two fire trucks arrive at the scene.
It took firefighters about four hours to completely extinguish the fire, which covered an area of 25 square meters.
"A possible cause of the fire could have been a fire at the stove. Perhaps a homeless person was inside or someone was trying to light the stove. Each new fire worsens the structure of the building and the building itself. There have already been fires in this house. The building is becoming more and more dangerous," stated Maris Alexandrov, commander of the 5th division of the Riga Regional Fire and Rescue Service.
This summer, after inspecting the building, the Riga City Council's Department of Urban Development ruled that the area should be fenced off and that outsiders should not be allowed to enter. The owner was also required to eliminate the danger to pedestrians and vehicles moving along the sidewalk and roadway of Zvejnieku Street. A month later, the requirements were only partially fulfilled. After the last fire, the building was re-inspected.
The owner of the house assured the department representative that the building would be fenced off again and the windows closed. At the same time, he noted that it is impossible to completely eliminate the risk of the barriers being broken and outsiders entering. If the requirements are not met, enforcement proceedings will be initiated. This could lead to the expropriation of the building.
