Shortly after nine o'clock in the evening, VUGD began receiving calls that boxes of pyrotechnic articles burned next to or in a garbage container. Several more calls were received around midnight, with garbage containers burning on the street, at public buildings or multi-apartment houses. In the Mārupe municipality, the adjacent car was also damaged by the heat where garbage containers burned in an area of 10 square meters.
A pyrotechnic article had flown into the wall of a two-story residential house in Riga on the 4th cross-street of Jaunciems, resulting in heat insulation material beginning to burn in the area of 0.5 square meters.
From December 31 to January 1 at 6:30, VUGD received 69 calls – 40 to fire-fighting, 18 on rescue work, while 11 calls were misleading.
Latvian Television reported that a Christmas tree was burning in an apartment in Gulbene, whereas a one-story residential home burned in Valmiera, claiming the lives of two people.
On December 31, a public bathhouse caught fire in Riga, Priežu Street. There were 14 people rescued, four of whom needed medical help.
The State Police recorded 67 road traffic accidents during the last day, in which 14 persons have been injured. The worst one was in Rīga, on Mīlgrāvja Street.
“A young man, driving a Moskvitch, did not manage to control it and drove into a lamppost, after which the car turned over.” As a result, the driver of the car suffered severe injuries, and passengers also were injured and brought to a medical facility. The police have information that six people have been injured,” Gita Gžibovska, senior specialist at the Public Relations Department, told the State Police.
16 drunk drivers were also detained, nine of whom were heavily drunk – more than 1.5 promilles.
