A resident of Gauja has lost his home for the second time in his life due to a major fire. The two-story building was completely destroyed by flames even before the rescuers arrived, and the owner now faces starting all over again.
The fire broke out on a weekday morning in a two-story residential building in Gauja. According to eyewitnesses, the flames spread so quickly that within just a few minutes, most of the building was engulfed.
Local residents report that the flames broke through the roof, destroying the shingles and rapidly consuming everything inside the house. By the time firefighters arrived, it was already impossible to help on their own.
"No one was there, no one saved any belongings," said neighbor Janis in an interview with Degpunktā (TV3).
According to him, it was likely that almost nothing could be salvaged from the house.
The first signs of the fire were noticed by a woman working nearby in her garden. At first, she saw smoke coming from the chimney and thought the owner was simply heating the stove. However, within a few minutes, the situation changed drastically.
Smoke began to emerge from the ridge of the roof, after which the woman rushed to the house, trying to find out if anyone was inside. She knocked on doors and windows, called for the owner, but received no response. After that, the firefighters were called. Fortunately, there were no people in the house. The pets—a dog and a cat—were outside and unharmed.
An additional problem was the location of the settlement. There is no fire station in Gauja itself, and the nearest units are in Ape and Smiltene. Because of this, it took rescuers at least twenty minutes to reach the scene. By the time the firefighters arrived, the house was almost completely destroyed.
For the owner, this incident was particularly hard, as such a tragedy has happened to him before. In the winter of 2018, a fire in Gauja destroyed the house where his family lived with two minor children. Back then, as now, it was nearly impossible to save any belongings, and the family had to look for new housing. The cause of that fire was determined to be a malfunction in the electrical wiring.
The cause of the current fire is still unknown. The circumstances of the incident will need to be established during the investigation.
According to eyewitnesses, the man is still in a state of strong emotional shock and is struggling to cope with what has happened.
This fire serves as a reminder of how quickly fire can destroy all possessions and completely change a person's life in just a few minutes.
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