Elderly woman dies in fire at Narva care home

A fire started on Tuesday, 6 October, in the smoking room of a care home on Rahu Street in Narva, Estonia. An elderly woman who was in the room died.

The Emergency Response Centre received the report at 8:51 p.m., according to the Rescue Board's press office.

Narva rescuers, the first to reach the scene, found smoke on the second floor of the care home. They immediately began ventilating the premises and discovered the dead woman in the smoking room.

By the time rescuers arrived, there was no open flame: staff at the institution had put out the small fire themselves with a fire extinguisher.

Smoke did not spread

The building had proper fire compartments, and the fire doors had been kept closed. As a result, smoke did not reach the areas where other people were staying, and no evacuation was needed.

Rescuers checked the whole building with measuring instruments and found no carbon monoxide. An ambulance crew examined all of the residents of the facility.

Investigation

Rescue units from Narva and Narva-Jõesuu took part in dealing with the incident, along with an operational commander from Jõhvi.

Careless smoking is believed to be the possible cause of the fire. The exact circumstances will be established in the course of the further investigation.

Since the beginning of this year, a total of 23 people have died in fires in Estonia.