On Wednesday afternoon, a fire broke out in an apartment on the second floor of a multi-apartment building in the Alūksne region. Rescuers carried a resident out of the burning apartment, but medics confirmed his death. Neighbors note that the man was burdened by distress, and possibly alcohol in his blood also played a role in his demise.
Watching a hockey game in the living room, Leonid and Gunta were interrupted by a strong smell of smoke. The owner thought it was coming from the hallway, and upon opening the apartment door, he realized he was right, reports the show Degpunktā (TV3).
"I ran out into the hallway — everything was filled with smoke. Then I ran to the neighbor's, we opened the windows in the hallway, called an ambulance, and the firefighters," recalls Leonid.
After calling the rescuers and evacuating from the smoke-filled rooms, the residents of the building report that the firefighters arrived within ten minutes. They immediately went to extinguish the burning apartment with hoses in hand, and the medics went up with them. The residents knew that a neighbor was inside the burning apartment, and there was no hope for a happy outcome.
"When the ambulance arrived, they immediately went upstairs with the firefighters, checked, came down, and said: 'Ready.' But interestingly, he was only in his underwear. After 15–20 minutes, when the smoke cleared, they found the dog — it was also dead," Leonid specified.
A day before his death, the man experienced a tragedy. The distress, along with health problems and alcohol, likely led to this tragic end.
"He was weak and a bit inadequate. I don’t know, the examination will show — whether he drank or not. On Tuesday, he buried his wife; on Wednesday, he left himself," Leonid said.
In his opinion, the cause of the tragedy could have been the open doors of the heated stove: "Apparently, a log fell out, and nearby were some firewood. But how did he not feel that? I don’t know."
While the services are determining the exact source of the fire, the local government must ensure that the housing does not create further problems for the building and its residents.
The fate of the apartment will depend on the involvement of the residents themselves and the actions of the local government. Except for this apartment and the uninhabited apartment below it on the first floor, the residents of the building only suffered from the smell and the blackened entrance door from the smoke. Electricity and water supply to the building have already been restored.
