Residents of Riga are invited to inspect the basements of buildings and create safe places of refuge

The municipality of the capital identifies potential places of refuge in priority order, starting with educational institutions. Riga 49th Secondary School is lucky – the school’s basement was originally built as a bomb shelter.

At the moment, however, the premises are overcrowded – the school mainly uses them as a warehouse, so there are various building materials and other belongings here. It is planned to get rid of all this already this week – together with students and young guards, it is planned to do it on the day of the Great Cleanup.

“On Saturday, we will move everything out that is stacked here like in warehouses. And the next step is that we ourselves will look at what we can do to make these rooms more suitable for this function,” explains the director of Riga 49th Secondary School, Imants Mednis.

The basement of the 49th high school was previously assessed by the State Fire and Rescue Service (VUGD) as suitable for setting up a temporary shelter.

Gradually, such a survey is also taking place in other educational institutions of Riga – the ground floors of ten schools have already been recognized as fully or partially suitable for the establishment of such a shelter, where one could stay for up to two hours – in most cases, it is only necessary to introduce order and carry out minor repairs.

Gint Rainson

Head of Riga Civil Defense and Operational Information Department

At least those rooms should be freely accessible, so that there is no chance that the legs are caught by some garbage or some sharp things. Of course, the utilities must be in order, so that there are no sides in the sewer pipes, that the electrical installations are in order, that there are no open wires.

The municipality hopes that the survey of all the buildings on its farm could be completed by the end of the year. Then, seeing what the overall situation is, it would be possible to start improving and equipping the cellars in such a way that they could stay in them for a longer time in the moment of crisis.

“And that’s electricity, water and ventilation if you can. And further, we are already looking at the possibility of creating a shed in the basement, where a reserve of food products, basic necessities and inventory can be placed, which can help solve some economic issues,” says Reinsons.

At the same time, the local government also invites the residents of Riga to inspect the basements of their residential buildings and, if necessary, at least organize them – free them of waste, dangerous substances, such objects that could create additional danger or make it difficult to enter the premises in case of danger.

Vilnis Kirsis (JV)

Mayor of Riga

The municipality cannot go into people’s private property, into their basement, and choose which tires are useful and which can be thrown out. Since the citizens themselves will also have to be significantly involved here, we will, of course, help with information on how it should all look.

Also, every resident is invited to familiarize themselves with the recommended guidelines on the minimum technical requirements for premises that could be used as a place of shelter on the website of the State Fire and Rescue Service.

Report an error in the article

Highlight the incorrect text and press Ctrl+Enter.

Mark the wrong text and report it!