A resident of the village of Gardenes experienced a disaster last night — a fire broke out in the ceiling of his apartment. Today, the homeowner, clearing the debris, was almost certain that the incident was caused by neighbors who currently live in another part of Europe, reports the show Degpunktā (TV3).
Sergei's home was flooded and damaged by fire. He spent the whole day clearing debris with friends and constantly communicating with relatives. Part of the interview took place amidst the ringing of incoming calls.
The man recounted that he woke up with the feeling that something was wrong. Upon opening the bedroom door, he saw the kitchen engulfed in flames. His military training helped him take action and stay calm — he immediately turned off the gas cylinder, carried it outside, and ran to warn his neighbors.
“The main thing was that people didn’t get hurt. That was my first thought,” he said.
During the fire, seven residents had to evacuate from the house.
“We were already asleep, and there was a lot of smoke in the apartment. We quickly got dressed and, navigating through the thick fog where nothing was visible, made our way down,” said resident Arvil.
Only after warning all the neighbors did Sergei call the emergency services. Then he returned to the apartment to try to extinguish the fire, but it was already too late:
“I tried to put it out with water, but everything was burning with open flames. Beams started falling on me. Even in the army, I’ve never experienced anything so extreme.”
Sergei and the other residents had to wait for the rescuers in the cold until three in the morning. The fact that he woke up in time possibly saved the neighbors from tragedy. However, if smoke detectors had been installed in the house, the damage to the property could have been less.
“Most fires in residential areas occur at night, so having a detector is essential,” emphasized acting commander of the Dobele branch of the State Fire and Rescue Service Ronald Kuchik.
With extensive experience in construction, Sergei knows exactly what caused the fire — in his opinion, the fault lies with the renovation work carried out by the neighbors on the upper floor last summer:
“They inserted wooden structures into the chimney. When the stove was lit, the wood began to smolder and then caught fire.”
Currently, the residents of the top floor are in the United Kingdom, and Sergei has not contacted them. He is puzzled by such an approach to construction:
“In 30 years of working in construction, I have never seen anyone insert wooden structures into a chimney.”
Sergei's apartment was not insured — he will have to pay for the restoration work out of his own pocket. But should he have to do this alone? If his home was destroyed due to the unauthorized repairs of the neighbors, who is responsible for this?
The house is managed by the municipal enterprise “Dobele Housing Management.” They only learned about the renovation work after the fire.
“As far as I understand, the tenant of the apartment on the upper floor was carrying out renovations. He replaced the ceiling beams, which are part of the common property of the building, and such actions should have been agreed upon with us. There was no agreement. This is actually unacceptable,” explained a representative of the housing management.
He also suggested that the repairs were likely carried out by the residents themselves. Now, in connection with the fire, the management will need to contact the residents of the apartment on the second floor and wait for the services' conclusions about the causes of the fire to determine what to do next.
