Fire kills elderly woman in Narva care home smoking room

An elderly woman died in a fire in a smoking room at a care home in Narva on Tuesday evening, ERR reported. Rescuers said the home met fire safety requirements. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Care home staff extinguished the fire before rescuers arrived at about 9 p.m. The blaze did not spread beyond the smoking room. Rescuers ventilated the building and confirmed that a person had died.

“The care home staff reacted quickly and in time, and put out the fire. The rescuers only had to check the premises and, unfortunately, confirm that a person had died,” said Denis Dushkin, head of the Narva rescue squad. He added that the consequences could have been worse if fire safety requirements had not been met.

Staff said the woman used a wheelchair but was independent and alert, and did not need assistance or special treatment. They said she liked wearing synthetic-fibre clothing, which may have caught fire while she was smoking.

The care home is considering limiting access to the smoking room in the evening, when fewer people move around the building, but said it could not close the room permanently. “It is very difficult to stop an elderly person from doing something they have been used to for years,” said Tatjana Stolfat, head of the Narva Social Work Centre. She said the room was kept in good order so residents could smoke indoors, adding that smoking outside would lead to several times more cases of colds.

The care home has 130 residents, about a quarter of whom smoke.