Rehan Qayoom Mir
Srinagar, Jul 21: A wave of fire incidents across Srinagar in the last 24 hours has left several families homeless, as the blazes damaged residential structures in Nawa Kadal, Rajbagh, Golden Lake of Dal Lake and Safa Kadal Srinagar.
In Nawa Kadal, three houses were reduced to ashes in an overnight fire, rendering multiple families shelterless.
Bilal Ahmed, a local from the area, describing the horrors of the night, shared they could not save anything. “Just the clothes we were wearing have been with us,” said Bilal, adding that everything, including documents, memories, all got burned in front of their eyes and became ashes.
Earlier on Sunday night, two houses in Rajbagh Srinagar were damaged in a similar fire incident. The locals from the area also shared details as they heard a few blasts.
“We heard explosions and then saw smoke everywhere. Within minutes, the fire was out of control,” said Suhail, a local resident. He said people rushed to help, but it spread too fast.
Moreover, in the evening of Sunday, a residential house at Malik Sahab, Safa Kadal, also caught fire, affecting the first floor. Firefighters managed to control the blaze without needing reinforcements.
Similarly, in another incident on Monday morning, a double-storeyed house at Mir Mohalla Ghat No. 09 near Golden Lake of Dal was damaged in a fire that broke out just after 10 AM. Quick response from Fire and Emergency Services helped contain it, while damaging at least one structure.
Moreover, while no casualties were reported in any of the incidents, the repeated fires have sparked concern among locals, while the investigations to check for the cause of fire in all these incidents are yet to be known.
