Could the House on Bauskas Repeat the Fate of Melnsila? Residents Fear Being Left with Ruins 0 9

They are not new, as a similar incident occurred in 2020 on Melnsila Street. There, a gas leak also happened in a rental apartment owned by the municipality. While the Riga City Council continues to litigate against the apartment owners, the building remains half-destroyed.

Residents of the house on Bauskas Street fear that a similar scenario may repeat itself with them. The municipality does not take responsibility but promises to assist the affected with benefits and temporary housing.

Several days have passed since the gas explosion in the building at Bauskas Street 15, so representatives of the responsible services were invited to the meeting of the housing and environment committee to report on the work done and assess the situation.

Describing the events leading up to the explosion that occurred in the afternoon of January 2, Alexander Koposov, a board member of the company "Gaso," explained that emergency service personnel had already visited this address on January 1, as the gas supplier had instructed to disconnect the gas in apartment No. 74 on the fifth floor. Koposov did not name the supplier, as it is a commercial secret. When an illegal connection bypassing the meter was discovered in the apartment, a decision was made to seal the gas supply pipe, and an act was drawn up. The building manager was not informed about this, as the company's employees have no such obligation.

The next day, around three o'clock in the afternoon, another call was received for this building, as the gas stove in the fourth-floor apartment was not working, and a suspicious vibration was felt on the fifth floor. When "Gaso" employees knocked on the door of apartment No. 74, the resident opened it but immediately closed it upon seeing them. The "Gaso" employees smelled a strong gas odor, so one of them stayed on the fifth floor while the other went outside to shut off the gas supply to the building and called the duty engineer to inform them of the situation and to summon the police and the State Fire and Rescue Service to gain access to the apartment. However, within a minute, an explosion occurred, resulting in the death of a "Gaso" employee.

Koposov noted that overall, "Gaso" receives about 6,000 calls a year, of which approximately half are not related to gas leaks, and the number of illegal connections ranges from 40 to 50 cases.