In Ulbroka, a man fought the flames in his apartment until his last breath 0 8

The first to arrive on Peldus Street were officers from the State Police and the municipal police, who evacuated the residents of the building even before the firefighters arrived.

"In one of the apartments, a woman was found lying and unable to move by herself. Together with the State Police officers, she was carried outside. The State Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) was provided with public order protection around the house," said Sandis Gedominškis, the head of the Stopiņi–Ropaži division of the Ropaži region.

The fire broke out on the third floor of the building, where, according to neighbors, an elderly couple lives. The woman went away for the weekend, while the man stayed home alone.

Yuri, who lives right next door, heard a beeping sound in the evening that resembled a smoke detector. When he went out into the stairwell, he did not hear any noise, the neighbor did not respond to his knocks, and the front door was locked:

"By the time I went to get my phone and returned, the door was already open. But he went back into the apartment. The room was on fire. He said that we need to call the rescuers. I told him to get out, but he didn’t come out. I started knocking on the neighbors’ doors to evacuate them. He still didn’t come out."

It was already impossible to stay in the stairwell, and Yuri, along with the neighbors, went outside. There was no possibility to return for the pets — they were left in the man's apartment.

"Five units of equipment were involved in extinguishing and rescue operations, with a total of 17 firefighters working. Nine residents were evacuated at the scene, two were rescued, but one, unfortunately, died. The body of the deceased person was found in the burning apartment," said a firefighter.

Firefighters remind that the first thing to do is to call the rescuers and only then assess one’s ability to attempt to extinguish the fire. In most cases, an untrained person is unable to handle a fire, unless, for example, it is garbage burning in a metal bin, where the flames cannot easily spread and a fire extinguisher can be used.

"It is important not to overestimate your abilities and not to compare yourself with professional firefighters who know how to extinguish a fire. Fire can become uncontrollable in literally minutes or even seconds. When burning ordinary household items, very harmful chemicals are released, which can cause severe poisoning or even death after just a few breaths, even if it initially seems that the smoke is not dangerous," emphasizes the firefighter.

"The man did not smoke; maybe it was a candle in a wreath or something like that. When I opened the door, it was burning where the table with chairs is," says the neighbor.

The cause of the tragedy will be determined by the police, but it is worth reminding that many fires occur just before the holidays due to unattended candles. Candles in wreaths, on Christmas trees, or anywhere else should only be lit while being nearby and constantly monitoring them.

"If it is a real tree, even if it is artificial, it can be dangerous. But a live tree that has already dried out is especially easy to ignite. It burns very quickly, the flames spread rapidly and intensely, so I do not use open flames on the tree at home," reminds the firefighter.