Massive fire ravages joinery mill, shops in Bandipora

Bandipora, Dec  20: In a tragic fire incident in north Kashmir's Bandipora district a joinery mill along with five shops and a few other structures were reduced to rubble.

The locals and the fire officials said the fire erupted late Tuesday night engulfing the joinery mill and five other shops on the ground floor of a shopping complex.

Moreover, the fire also partially ravaged two tin shed structures that had timber in them.

The devastated owner of the joinery mill, Jan Mohammad Mir, said that everything in the joinery mill was reduced to ashes."It included 5000 feet of timber, some of which was crafted into windows and doors," Mir said.

Jan who lives in nearby Onagam village said that the neighbors living near the mill called him at around 11:30 pm in the night informing him about the fire.

"Even though the fire service department arrived within half an hour, the fire wasn't controlled and everything was damaged," Mir said.

He said it was at about 3 am that the main fire was brought under control, with help from J&K police and locals. However the timber continued to reignite "leaving nothing but destruction behind."

Mir estimated that he had lost around Rs 7-8 lakh in the fire, which also affected the livelihoods of four other workers at the mill.

"The fire did not just affect me but four other people who worked at the mill," Mir said. Mir said he was hopeful that he would recover from the tragedy.

"It was Allah's will, he gave me the livelihood and he took it away and he is the one who will provide for me again," Mir said.