An arsonist is active in the Riga microdistrict of Shkirotava, setting fire to garden houses that remain in an already semi-abandoned area. Four summer cottages have already been destroyed, and the State Police is searching for the culprit.
The area of garden plots in Shkirotava is mostly cluttered, overgrown, and uninhabited; however, in some places, one can still see plots where people are trying to arrange a small piece of land to tend to their beds and relax, reports the Degpunktā program (TV3). One man is working on his plot near the fire site — his garden is right next to the ignition point. He purchased the land just two weeks ago.
(DP: Does it often catch fire?) "Well, you know, if I’m not mistaken, I’m not a gardener, but almost every day. Some kind of arson, I don’t know. DP: Is someone setting fires? I think so. This garden has an owner; he hasn’t sold it to anyone. It was in good condition. Everything was fine. And suddenly — ‘boom’. He never comes here. Someone, probably homeless, I don’t know. But it seems to me that it’s something like… You can’t say it’s sabotage; rather, it’s just arson," he says.
Vija has been arranging two plots in this area for three years. The woman says she is afraid that one day she will come and see that her hard work has turned into a black spot. Vija tries to get along with the local homeless — from time to time, she treats them with the fruits of her harvest so they won’t climb over the fence and take things themselves.
"I don’t know; these arsonists have always been here. This is already the sixth or seventh fire this week (…) If this continues, I’m losing hope," Vija explains.
Due to strong winds, the fire spread from one garden house to two others, and last year’s grass and fences of the plots also burned. In total, an area of about 300 square meters was affected.
"Now, in dry weather, when there is no green grass, people need to be very careful with fire — embers after barbecuing should be extinguished with water and sand," reminds Alexey Tsikunov, commander of the 8th division of the Riga State Fire and Rescue Service.
When the fire was localized, smoke was noticed several hundred meters away when a drone was raised over the garden area. Unfortunately, a building and dry grass were already burning there as well. Rescuers brought in additional forces to extinguish the second fire. The State Police has suspicions of intentional arson, and a criminal process has been initiated. The law enforcement agencies have no information about other fires that local residents are talking about.
