40 houses gutted in HP village

SHIMLA: As many as 40 houses were gutted in a fire that broke out in Khashaini village of Shimla district in the wee hours of Wednesday and rendered around four dozen families homeless.

The blaze, suspected to have started in a wooden house, gradually engulfed adjoining houses, majority of which were made of wood.

Around 3 am, after information reached the local police post, a fire tender was rushed from Rohru but it could not work to its full capacity as its pipe was damaged.

Firefighters faced water scarcity and villagers had to connect a pipeline from a source that was 5km from the spot.

“We also heard blasts that could be LPG cylinders. Eventually, cylinders and other essential things were removed from adjoining houses,” said Anil Sharma, resident of a neighbouring village.

SDM Ghanshyam Sharma said fire tenders were also rushed from Kotkhai and the fire was contained by daybreak. “We are making a list of the affected families,” he said and added that the exact cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained.

Deputy commissioner Amit Kashyap and SP Omapati Jamwal also reached the spot. Some of the affected families were moved to a community centre and other to houses in the same village. He said no loss of life was reported in this incident, SP said.

State education minister Suresh Bhardwaj visited the spot on Wednesday morning and said, “Matter will be taken up with the government to provide land to affected families for construction of new houses,” he said.

Former CM Virbhadra Singh also visited the affected village and expressed grief over the loss. Jubbal and Kotkhai MLA Narinder Bragata also visited the spot.