In which buildings will bomb shelters be built in Riga, and how will they be marked? A civil defense expert explains

In the TV24 program “On the Line” there was a discussion about bomb shelters and their installation in Riga buildings.

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“Each school that meets the asylum requirements will be marked with an asylum sign and another sign, which is the international civil protection sign,” informed Gints Reinsons, head of the Riga Civil Defense and Operational Information Department. Both signs were featured on the show [skat.video].

“These signs can be seen in Finland, Estonia, Scandinavian countries. We will also use it in parallel,” Reinson assured. “Where will those signs be seen? First, yes, they are schools. After that, social care centers, nursing homes, and administrative buildings of the municipality,” he added.

What principles will determine which building is a bomb shelter? To this question of the presenter, the head of the Riga Civil Defense and Operational Information Administration refused, saying: “This is determined by VUGD [Valsts ugunsdzēsības un glābšanas dienesta] in the basic guidelines. The structures of this building, the walls, the transmissions, the two entrances, the area where people could stay, so that there are no large utilities, say, big hot water pipes or heating pipes and so on, are evaluated. All this is evaluated as a whole. There can’t be large windows, basically basements are suitable, but plinths are not always.”

It has already been announced that the Riga municipality plans to evaluate the suitability of all municipal properties for the improvement of temporary shelters by the end of this year, so the head of the Civil Defense and Operational Information Department of the Riga City Council, Gints Reinsons, told the media on Wednesday, April 24.

Currently, the municipality, in cooperation with the State Fire and Rescue Service (VUGD), has started the first stage of the property survey, during which the suitability of the premises is checked in schools. In the second stage, it is planned to survey kindergartens, then social care and medical institutions, and finally – administrative buildings of the municipality.

The representative of the municipality indicated that the first step will be to improve suitable premises for temporary shelter, namely shelter for up to two hours, but the plan is to gradually improve shelters into places where it is possible to stay for a longer period of time. Rainson said temporary shelters should have a first aid kit, food supplies and supplies to help clear an exit. On the other hand, long-term shelters would require a ventilation system, larger food reserves, water supply, a diesel generator and space autonomy, that is, a backup exit is desirable.

The well-equipped shelters of the municipality will be marked with three stickers: a label approved by the VUGD guidelines, an international label approved by the Geneva Convention, and a label in Braille. Information about the adapted objects will be placed in the Civil Defense Plan of the Riga municipality.

The mayor of Riga Vilnis Ķirsis (JV) emphasized that the involvement of the residents themselves is also essential, and called on the residents of Riga to also inspect the basements of their buildings and adapt them for safe shelter. At the same time, Ėirsis expressed that the premises should have a double use, that is, they should be used right now, and the residents know where they are, how to enter them and what is in the premises. As an example, the mayor of Riga mentioned the sports complex of the 49th secondary school of Riga, the basement of which will soon be freed of excess belongings, refurbishing it into a safe shelter, and at the same time, separate basement rooms will be used as premises for the Young Guard.

LETA has already announced that during the Great Cleanup, on April 27, Riga municipality employees will tidy up the basement owned by the municipality in the protective building next to the “Rīdze” elementary school at 1 Zigfrīda Anna Meirovitsa bulvāri and the shelter-adaptable rooms in the “Mežciems” social care center, showing an example of how to tidy up and adapt the basement to civil defense requirements. With the arrangement of these basements, the municipality begins the process of identifying and arranging suitable places for shelter in the municipality’s properties, as well as inviting residents to follow the example in an informational campaign.

Riga municipality calls on residents to clear basements or underground floors of waste, construction debris, hazardous substances, structures and objects with sharp edges, which could pose an additional threat to people staying in these premises. The cleaning of the basements should be coordinated with the building managers, as it is also necessary to ensure the collection of the removed waste.

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