As 15min stated, Gintaras Mačernis, the chief specialist of the Palanga Fire and Rescue Service, reported that on July 27 around 4 PM, a notification was received that a wooden sauna on wheels was burning on Kontininkų Street in Palanga, near the sea.
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Images circulated on social networks showing a building belonging to “Jūros pirtys” on fire.
According to the firefighters’ representative, the mobile house on wheels contained two saunas and a pre-sauna area, as well as a terrace.
It was determined that the fire started in one of the saunas, which occupy about 45.5 sq. m, with a roof covered with bituminous material.
While extinguishing the fire, firefighters had to dismantle about 3.5 sq. m of the roof, some walls were also partially dismantled, the sauna room was smoked, and the pre-sauna area was partially dismantled.
According to the firefighters’ assessment, the sauna did not burn down; it was partially preserved – repairs will be needed.
Two fire trucks worked on site, which later also had to rescue an ambulance stuck in the sand.
Preliminary data indicate that no one was injured during the fire.
Just started in June
15min reports that regarding the opportunity to operate on the Palanga beach near Kontininkų Street, six contestants participated in the latest competition announced by the Palanga municipality, with the proposed local fee ranging from 6003 to 31,111 euros.
The winner of the competition was recognized as MB “Head office.”
One of the founders and the manager of this small company established in Vilnius is entrepreneur and co-owner of a modern sauna network Arnas Repečka, who promotes ice water bathing. 15min reported on Tuesday that he and his business partner took over the management of the saunas on Kontininkų Street in Palanga from June this year.
Ordered by a private company
More about the causes of the fire and this year’s start in Palanga was told to 15min by A. Repečka’s business partner, one of the co-owners of “Head office,” Artūras Besevičius.
“We bought an old sauna that had been operating in this beach location for more than 5 years. Over time, things wear out. The roof structure just caught fire near the chimney. Due to old age, as the firefighters said. The fire spread a bit to the side from the roof. We saw it in time and rushed to extinguish it ourselves,” explained A. Besevičius about the cause of the fire.
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According to him, the fire brigade responded “amazingly quickly” – they arrived very fast and managed to extinguish the fire in time, and no one was hurt.
“With minimal repairs, we hope to welcome people back to the private sauna next week,” said the entrepreneur.
At this location, they operate two saunas in one building – a public one at one end and a private one at the other. Both can accommodate 8 people at the same time.
The public part was not damaged during the fire and is already operational today.
An interesting fact is that the saunas operate from Tuesday to Sunday, but a private company celebrating a birthday asked to open the sauna for them on Monday. They did not get to enjoy the sauna – they were just preparing for the first session when the fire broke out.
“Yes, we were not supposed to work,” the interlocutor smiled.
Preparing for repairs
“It’s a pity that this happened. Of course, it is understandable why the fire started – the sauna is old. However, the loss is minimal – we calculated about a few thousand euros,” said A. Besevičius.
He explained that before starting this summer, the public sauna was renovated and improved, while the private one was only being prepared for repair – after taking over from the previous operators, only the chimneys were cleaned and the stove checked.
“The firefighters said that strong winds were blowing on the coast yesterday. It is possible that the strong wind and heat ‘entered’ the chimney, there was a high temperature, and the wood nearby heated up. Probably a standard chimney fire ignition statistic,” the interlocutor speculated.
The third sauna “spot”
“Head office” operates saunas in Vilnius and Trakai. Palanga beach is a new project for the partners.
Asked how the season is going at the seaside, whether it is as expected, A. Besevičius described the occupancy of the saunas on Palanga beach as “average.”
“The situation is, let’s say, average. Good weather means fewer customers, bad weather means more. It was not a very impressive summer, but gradually everything was moving forward, we made some updates. We were moving towards renovating the private sauna, but unfortunately, we did not manage. The private sauna decided it needs to be renovated now. We are going to buy materials and get to work,” the interlocutor laughed.
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