Reyaz Rashid
Baramulla: At least ten residential houses and other non- residential structures were completely gutted and goods worth corers of rupees got reduced to ashes in a massive devastating fire which broke out at Sheikh Colony in Noorbagh area in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Thursday late evening.
Eyewitness said that fire broke out from a residential house after an LPG gas cylinder leaked and the fire spread to nearby houses in a jiffy in which at ten residential houses were xcompletely destroyed and fifteen families were rendered homeless.
“As we saw huge flames coming out of a residential house, we rushed towards it to extinguish the fire but it went out of control and engulfed all neighbouring houses in a very short span of time. We called fire service department which just a kilometre away but they reached late till six houses were destroyed,” Noor Din Sheikh a local resident.“More than ten houses were gutted in the massive fire. Deadly fire left us helpless and we lost everything. We have no other source of income and appeal Governor Manoj Sinha and Deputy Commissioner Barmaulla for immediate relief and rehabilitation,” he added.
“We have suffered massive damage as all goods and belongings were destroyed and property worth crores was reduced to rubble ,” said Riyaz Ahmad Sheikh who also lost his house to the fire.
Later, the fire was extinguished after strenuous efforts of police,fire and emergency department and army which jointly carried out the fire fighting operations.
A fire service officer said that as the fire broke out in the areas fire tenders were rushed to the spot to douse off the flames while locals, police and the Army were also trying to douse the flames.
The officials said that several houses were damaged in this massive blaze, however,when this report was filed, the men from fire and emergency department besides police and locals were on the job to douse off the blaze.
A police officer said that due narrow lanes, fire tenders were finding it difficult to reach the spot directly. At least 10 houses have already been engulfed and efforts are underway to contain the further spread of fire.
District Devlopment Commissioner Baramulla, Bupinder Kumar told that” We have got around 10 fire tender vehicles from nearby fire and emergency stations, our prime focus is to control the fire and have minimum loss.
“The civil administration along with army is on job. Since it’s congested area, creating a little trouble for vehicle to reach the spot”, he added.
The cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained.The locals said that the cause of fire was not known as it spread fast leaving no time to salvage the belongings which were reduced to ashes.
However, an official of fire and emergency department said that the cause of fire may be the gas leakage as we are ascertaining facts behind this massive fire.
The efforts were on to prevent further spread of fire, while as no loss of human life was reported when this report was being filed.