Heating her apartment with an old spiral heater: a woman in Ventspils met a tragic end 0 9

Various household items were thrown out onto the snow, with a broken window above, reports the show Degpunktā (TV3). It was from this apartment that things were thrown out in the midst of the fire. A neighbor from the adjacent apartment recounts that the blaze was very intense.

"The fire... It was impressive. When the firefighters opened the door, nothing was visible — only fire. I was watching — horror," the neighbor describes what happened.

Although the design of the stairwell means that residents on the upper floors will not have to wash the walls from soot, they also felt the fire.

"Our windows also face that side, and smoke appeared at the level of the loggia. White and black. The smell of burning was very strong. There was even a mist in the apartment, like haze in the air. (Degpunktā: Did you feel it too?) Yes, yes. The smell was felt here too. But for us, it was like mist. We opened the windows, ventilated. We called 112, but apparently we were not the first — when we looked in that direction, the firefighters were already on the scene, the extinguishing had already begun," said resident Valentina.

Residents of the house on Ingenieru Street, with whom it was possible to communicate, did not interact with the deceased woman in their daily lives. Valentina learned from neighbors both the possible cause of the fire and why the woman could not escape.

"Only from neighbors did we know that the woman was disabled. (Degpunktā: Was she in the apartment?) Yes, yes. She basically didn’t burn, but suffocated... Most likely from the smoke. I didn’t see it myself, we didn’t go out there. But neighbors say she was carried out, but she was already dead. She couldn’t walk, and it seems the fire started because of the heater. She had some old spiral one, and it seems the ignition occurred because of it," Valentina said.

The deceased was 63 years old.