3 houses gutted in Hazratbal blaze

Srinagar, Jan 8: Three houses were gutted in a fire incident at Hazratbal locality here today.

Officials of Fire and Emergency Services, the fire incident occurred near Kashmir University.

The officials said they received information about the fire incident at around 11:52 am. They said multiple fire tenders from Headquarters, Rainawari, Hazratbal, and Soura were pressed to douse the fire.

“At least three residential houses were gutted in the fire. These structures include two three-story residential houses and one double-story house. It was a congested locality and fortunately, there was no loss of life or any injury,” said the official

The officials said that the cause of the fire is under investigation. They said the fire started from one of the structures and spread quickly in the congested locality.

Meanwhile, locals said that the local fire station is in a congested location which slows down the fire fighting operations.

"Our local fire station is in the congested market which affects the operations. Although it is a few meters away from the fire incident spot, it still affected the fire fighting process," said a local adding that the fire station should be relocated as soon as possible.

Local youth along with police and Fire and emergency officials helped in containing the fire and prevented it from spreading.

Meanwhile, on the directions of Deputy Commissioner Srinagar, Dr. Bilal Mohi-Ud-Din Bhat, a team of District Administration, Srinagar today visited Hazratbal area of the District to provide immediate assistance to the fire affected families.

The Immediate relief was sanctioned by Deputy Commissioner Srinagar and was provided to the affected families through the team of District Administration in the form of blankets, besides Rs10,000 to each affected families as an interim relief out of the District Red Cross Fund.

The Team of District Administration Srinagar also expressed sympathy with the affected families on loss of property.

Further, the Deputy Commissioner has also directed the concerned authorities to assess the losses and make a comprehensive report for providing structure-wise financial assistance under SDRF to the fire affected families separately.