Fire in nine-storey Riga apartment building leaves one person injured
A fire broke out overnight on Wednesday in a fifth-floor flat of a nine-storey residential building on Dzelzavas Street in Riga, after food was left cooking unattended. One person was injured and handed over to medical services.
In the early hours of Wednesday, 14 October, at 00:23, the State Fire and Rescue Service (VUGD) of Latvia received a call to Dzelzavas Street in Riga, where a fire had started in a fifth-floor flat of a nine-storey residential building. The service says food that had been left cooking unattended caught fire over an area of 0.01 square metres.
One person was injured at the scene and was handed over to the Emergency Medical Service. Work at the site ended at 1:19 a.m.
Warning to residents
VUGD reminds the public that a pot or pan left unattended on a switched-on stove can cause a serious fire. This may endanger the health and even the lives of the residents and their neighbours. The service urges people not to leave a stove on without supervision.
Overview of the past 24 hours
Between 6:30 a.m. on 13 October and 6:30 a.m. on 14 October, VUGD received 35 calls in total. Of these, 11 were to extinguish fires, 18 were for rescue work, and six turned out to be false alarms.
Firefighters also attended other fires involving burnt food, a garage, refuse, a lorry, electrical wiring and a waste bin.
