One Apartment in Daugavpils Leaves Entire Residential Building Living in Fear
Neighbours in a Bauskas Street apartment block in Daugavpils have for years lived alongside a woman of about 70 whose flat is filled with rubbish and insects and has seen repeated fires. The latest blaze has badly frightened residents.
In an apartment building on Bauskas Street in Daugavpils, Latvia's second-largest city, residents have for years had to live next to a woman of about 70 whose flat has accumulated rubbish, become infested with insects, and been the site of several fires and water leaks. The situation was reported by the TV3 programme “Degpunktā”. The most recent fire badly shook the neighbours, who fear the consequences could be worse next time.
A fire late at night
The fire broke out in a fifth-floor flat after 11 p.m., when most residents were getting ready for bed. The woman lives there alone. Neighbours suspect the flames started in the living room from an unattended candle. The flat had no smoke detector, and a neighbour who stepped out into the stairwell noticed smoke coming from under the door.
When rescuers arrived, the woman did not open the door, so it had to be broken open. She suffered burns and smoke inhalation and was taken to hospital.
What neighbours say
Neighbour Ļubova says firefighters have been called out for the third time this year; earlier, the woman reportedly left potatoes boiling and a pot burned. According to her, mice multiplied in the building two years ago, and now cockroaches have appeared. Another neighbour, Ērika, who lives directly below the woman, says she returned home the day after being hospitalised, after which police took her away again, this time to a psychiatric clinic.
The woman has several children who live outside the city and do not keep in touch with her. After the fire, neighbours looked for someone to help tidy the flat, and one of her sons responded. Ļubova says that when the door was left open because of the police, rubbish piled to human height spilled out. Ērika adds that pigeons once lived on the woman's loggia but have now moved into the flat itself.
