"Let's go in a limousine": a pensioner from a burned-out Omsk village gave a ride to the acting governor and became an Internet star

On Friday, April 28, the acting governor of the Omsk region, Vitaly Khotsenko, arrived in the village of Chistoozerye, Bolsherechensky district, where a major fire had occurred the day before.

According to the preliminary version of the investigation, the fire began at about 11 a.m. on April 27. Dry grass caught fire in a vacant lot, the fire spread to outbuildings, and then to residential buildings. As a result, 15 buildings burned down, including four residential buildings (one of them semi-detached). One man suffered burns to his hands when he tried to put out the flames on his own.

On the same day, but a few hours later, a major fire broke out in the village of Novokarasuk, Krutinsky district. According to investigators, the dry grass between the houses caught fire at about 17 p.m. The fire destroyed eight buildings during the fire, including five residential semi-detached houses, in which eight people lived. "None of the citizens was injured," the department said.

In both cases, the Investigative Committee opened criminal cases under Article 293 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Negligence". Residents of the villages of Chistoozerye and Novokarasuk will be provided with financial assistance.

Only two huts survived in Chistoozerye, local media reported. One of them belonged to a 56-year-old man who drowned in the lake the day before the fire. On the evening of April 25, he went fishing in a wooden boat. His body was found the next morning. According to preliminary data, the boat capsized, no signs of violent death were found.

"The house survived with the deceased. The day before yesterday, a man drowned in a lake, went fishing and fell. He is lying in a coffin, but his house remains. Relatives came to bury him, and then this whole fire, "writes the NGS55.RU portal with reference to the administration of the settlement.

The second surviving house in Chistoozero belongs to 81-year-old Nadezhda Kuchumova. It was she who got on video with the acting governor. Khotsenko in the passenger seat of an open-top car states that many houses have burned down, and at this time a gray-haired old woman in a bright scarf calmly turns the steering wheel. The video instantly went viral, and social media users began to compare the grandmother with a character from the game Atomic Heart. RT spoke with Nadezhda Kuchumova about how she survived the fire.

— Tell us a little about yourself. Have you been living in Chistoozero for a long time?

"I used to work as a milkmaid. My grandfather, that is, my husband, died almost six years ago. They gave birth to three sons with him. Two live in Chernovo, it's six kilometers from us. And one son in Omsk, recently came to his parents' day.

My sister, Lyuda, also lives in Chistoozerye. Her house burned down too. She has five children, and now her daughter has taken her to Omsk.

I was born here, I grew up here, and I grew old here. Therefore, of course, I saved my hut, and my sons saved, and Chernivtsi farmers, and firefighters.

- How did it happen that you gave Vitaly Khotsenko a ride?

- The governor came to meet with the residents, I talked to him, he asked if my house survived. I said that they defended, do you want me to show you? He says, "Let's go." I say, they say, sit down, I'll give you a ride. He was still surprised, asked: "On what?". I replied that I had left my husband in my limousine. While we were driving, talking, the governor praised me for driving myself.

- Where did you learn to drive a car like that?

"A car?" What a car it is, it's a toy more! My son collected it from an old car - my legs hurt, I can't walk. So he did it for me, to the store three kilometers away so as not to go, but for berries - at least to pick up a mug.

She learned to drive herself in adulthood, when her husband died, she had never been able to do this before. You need to go to the children in the neighboring village, on business somewhere here with us - that's how I learned.

- Apart from your house, has anything else survived in the village?

"My house survived, and another one remained on the other side, on the edge. In the direction of the cemetery, there is nothing to restore - everything burned down. There is no light now - the poles have burned down, they are pulling wires now, they are doing it, probably, tomorrow everything will be turned on.

11 houses burned down in the village, they will not be restored, people do not want to stay here to live and, most likely, they will be rebuilt elsewhere for compensation from the authorities. There is only one ash, nothing remains of the cemetery and further.

- What do you plan to do next?

- Now I don't have a farm as such - I'm already old, I don't have much strength. I collect documents and clothes, so that if the fire comes, I will have time to save at least something. I stay in my birdhouse, I will live alone, I will not move anywhere from here as long as the house is intact.