A large fire in Jekabpils destroyed an outbuilding next to a residential house where an elderly woman and her daughter were present at the time. Firefighters managed to stop the spread of the flames, but residents of neighboring houses feared for a long time that the fire would spread further.
A strong fire broke out in one of the private properties in Jekabpils. The flames engulfed an outbuilding, an attached sauna, and a greenhouse, with thick smoke and fire visible from various parts of the city.
According to the Degpunktā program (TV3), at the time of the fire, an elderly woman and her daughter were inside the house. They did not immediately realize that a fire was raging nearby.
One of the first to notice the smoke was neighbor Inguna.
“We were all already outside, and they didn’t even understand that they had a fire,” she said.
According to the woman, neighbors tried to help, but it was already impossible to approach the source of the fire.
“There’s a glass greenhouse, the windows started exploding, and no one was going in there anymore,” Inguna recalls.
The police were the first to arrive at the scene, starting to move people away from the danger zone. Later, four fire trucks from the State Fire and Rescue Service joined in the firefighting efforts.
The flames spread very quickly, and residents of neighboring houses feared that the fire would spread to their properties.
“Our buildings are very close to each other, and everyone is worried about their property,” said a neighbor.
According to local residents, the absence of strong winds largely saved the situation.
Firefighters agree. The State Fire and Rescue Service acknowledges that the consequences could have been significantly worse in windier weather.
Reinis Tisis, the commander of the Jekabpils unit of the Zemgale Regional Department of the State Fire and Rescue Service, reported that the total area of the fire was 160 square meters.
The roof and wall of the outbuilding, the sauna, and the greenhouse were burning.
Before the rescuers arrived, five people were evacuated from neighboring houses.
“The firefighters protected the neighboring residential houses and the outbuilding,” Tisis noted.
The fire was completely extinguished only at night — around 1:06 AM.
After the work was completed, the homeowners were able to return to their residence.
Neighbors told the Degpunktā program that the fire likely started near the sauna, but the official cause of the fire is still being determined by the State Police.
With the onset of the warm season, the number of fires in outbuildings and saunas traditionally increases, especially in the private sector.
This time, the residential house was saved, but the fire in Jekabpils once again demonstrated how quickly flames can spread in dense private housing.
