Firefighters rescue 24 people and six pets from Daugavpils apartment fire

Firefighters rescued 24 people and six pets from a burning five-storey apartment block on Puškina Street in Daugavpils, Latvia’s second-largest city, on Thursday, 12 November, VUGD, the State Fire and Rescue Service, said on Friday.

Stairwell full of smoke

The call came at 17:02. When crews arrived, the stairwell was thick with smoke and a computer and household items were burning over five square metres in a ground-floor flat. Firefighters used rescue masks to bring 24 people out of the building, while four residents had left before they arrived. Six pets were also rescued. Work at the scene ended at 18:48.

VUGD did not report any injuries or give a cause for the fire.

What to do if the stairwell is full of smoke

In an apartment block, smoke is more dangerous than the flames themselves. If the stairwell is filled with smoke, do not try to go through it: stay in the flat, close the door, block the gaps with a wet cloth, call 112 and signal from a window or balcony. Rescuers with masks can bring people out safely.

VUGD reminds residents that every home should have a smoke detector, as its loud alarm wakes people in time; most fatal fires break out at night, when people are asleep and cannot smell smoke. In the same 24 hours in Riga, food left unattended on a hob and kitchen furniture caught fire in a nine-storey block on Dzelzavas Street. The flat had no smoke detector.

In total, VUGD received 37 calls in 24 hours: ten to put out fires, 18 to rescue operations and nine false alarms.