In Kengarags, a smoke detector and attentive neighbors helped prevent a potential tragedy. An elderly woman was found unconscious in her apartment after food burned on the stove and the room filled with smoke.
The incident occurred shortly before noon in one of the apartment buildings in Kengarags. Residents of the building smelled smoke and noticed the loud alarm of a smoke detector coming from the apartment of an elderly neighbor who lives alone.
When rescuers arrived at the scene, it was found that a pot of soup had burned on the stove in the kitchen. By that time, the apartment was already heavily smoke-filled.
Inside, the employees of the State Fire and Rescue Service found the homeowner lying on the floor unconscious. The woman was handed over to the medical staff of the Emergency Medical Service.
According to neighbors, it was the smoke detector's alarm that made the residents alert and realize that something serious had happened in the apartment.
"The woman lives alone and is quite elderly. Apparently, she was cooking. There was no open flame, but there was a lot of smoke," one of the residents of the building told the Degpunktā program (TV3).
Later, after receiving medical assistance, the pensioner was returned home.
The State Fire and Rescue Service reported that there was no actual fire. However, the heavy smoke could pose a serious danger to a person's health and life.
As the commander of the 8th division of the Riga Regional Department of the State Fire and Rescue Service, Artis Strods, explained, the area of the burned food was only 0.01 square meters, but even that was enough to produce a large amount of smoke. Rescuers do not rule out that the woman may have suffered from smoke inhalation.
Similar calls are received by firefighters almost daily. In most cases, people manage to remove the pots from the stove and ventilate the premises themselves. However, sometimes the situation gets out of control and requires the intervention of emergency services.
This case is a clear example of how important a smoke detector is. It can warn of danger even before an open flame appears and provide precious time to save lives.
Rescuers also remind: if a pot or pan catches fire on the stove, do not pour water on it. It is much safer to cover the flames with a lid or a fire blanket, cutting off the oxygen supply.
The story in Kengarags ended well, but it once again showed that even ordinary meal preparation can become a source of serious danger.
