A woman used her special 'method' to avoid being without water in winter and nearly lost her home 0 8

Representatives of “Rīgas namu pārvaldnieks” arrived to close the burnt and broken holes in the house wall. They did not have materials to fix the leaking roof, but the workers inspected the damage and realized that something needed to be done to protect the building from the winter chill until repairs could begin, reports the show Degpunktā (TV3).

It is likely cold in the house now, and the belongings have been sooted, so the owner herself could not be reached. In the yard, journalists from “Degpunktā” spoke with a neighbor who woke up at night from loud bangs: “I went to check, and there was already a lot of smoke. I started pouring water, then we called the firefighters. (DP: Did she try to extinguish it herself first?) Yes, she poured water.”

The woman was examined by medics; the anxiety from what happened was significant, but she was not taken to the hospital. The cause of the incident turned out to be quite simple. The homeowner wanted to protect the plumbing pipes from freezing, so she left a lit candle near them.

“(DP: It’s lucky she woke up.) Yes, and the neighbors are also lucky that they were not harmed. Otherwise, the whole house could have burned down, and she could have perished in the smoke. But she was sleeping in another room, where her doors were closed. And here she has a bathroom, a toilet. And there, to prevent the pipes from freezing, she placed a candle. I don’t know how, maybe she placed it too close to something or something else,” says the neighbor.

Heating pipes with a candle, especially at night when an open flame is left unattended, is unwise, and rescuers urge people to assess the risks. The plumbing may be saved, but one could end up without a roof over their head.