The parish priest of Congaz, Moldova’s largest village, lost his house in a fire this morning. It is believed the blaze was ignited by a lit candle left unattended.

The call was placed at around 8:00 and three fire engines were deployed. It took about three hours to put out the blaze.

Emergencies Inspectorate spokesperson Liliana Pușcașu told IPN the fire swept rapidly through the house that had its walls padded with wood planks and contained more other wood objects.

No one was hurt in the fire. While the preliminary theory is that the fire was due to inattention while handling open flames, the case will be investigated to establish the exact cause.