Holi village in Chamba gutted in devastating fire

HimVani

Chamba: A devastating fire broke out at Holi village of Bharmour sub-division last night, destroying 21 shops and houses and government houses including a telephone exchange, sub-treasury and post office. 66 families including many tenants have been rendered homeless.

The fire broke out at 9.45 and suddenly engulfed one part of Holi village and soon destroyed the entire locality comprising 21 shops, house and three government offices within 20 minutes. Fire tender could not join rescue operations as the village is situated in a far-flung area.

Load shedding and communication failure aggravated the problem but local people showed their exemplary courage and prudence by partly controlling the inferno. They partly succeeded to douse down the flames by connected the spot with pipelines from nearby Ravi river and Holi Nalah. Fire tenders arrives at the spot at around 3 am and were able to control the flames. The cause of fire is yet to be ascertained. People doubt it to be handiwork of some miscreants.