A tragic fire occurred in the Limbazi region on Tuesday. A mother and son died in their home. The likely cause was an unextinguished cigarette.
For the residents of the Vilkene parish, the past day turned out to be very difficult. The news of the death of 91-year-old Mirdza and her son Janis in a fire caused a shock, reports the program Degpunktā (TV3).
The tragedy at the house is evidenced only by the thrown-out belongings. Here, along with the Degpunktā filming crew, was Dace — a neighbor living nearby, who had recently been regularly helping the elderly woman with household chores. She came to feed the numerous domestic cats, which presumably scattered after the fire.
Dace learned about what happened while at work:
“I received a call and they said: Dace, come here… a tragedy has happened! So we came. There were ambulances, firefighters… Next Tuesday she would have turned 92 years old…”
According to the local resident, the elderly woman's son did odd jobs, but could not take care of his mother as he was disabled and suffered from alcoholism.
Local residents are convinced that the death of the mother and son was caused by a cigarette thrown out by the son. While his long-term alcohol abuse can be called a “bad habit,” this should be characterized as deadly dangerous. The man would occasionally scatter not fully extinguished cigarettes around the rooms of the wooden house, wherever he pleased. Dace also recalls previous instances of fire.
Mirdza was a kind and sociable neighbor — this is how other residents of the area describe her.
“The grandmother is very nice. She even came on New Year’s, congratulated us on the holiday, brought pastries, although she walks only with crutches, she is almost 90 years old,” says Vilkene resident Alexander.
Mirdza and Janis had no close relatives, and as Dace mentioned, the social service is organizing the funeral.
The story of Mirdza’s daughter’s death was also tragic — she died in a car accident during the Soviet era. The father, in turn, passed away relatively recently. The family will be buried together, and the wooden house with burned-out rooms, as Dace assumes, will remain uninhabited.
