Fire guts buildings in Uttarkashi village; 8 families left homeless

Uttarkashi: A massive fire, believed to have been caused by a short circuit, gutted eight buildings, including four five-story houses, at Fitari village in Mori development block of Uttarkashi district, leaving at least eight families homeless. The blaze broke out late Monday night and spread rapidly due to the wooden construction of houses and the dense layout of the settlement.The fire also destroyed six nearby grain storehouses (kuthars) and three cows were burnt alive.District disaster management officer Shardul Gusain said the residents escaped in time.Police, SDRF, fire department personnel and Mori tehsil officials rushed to the village and, along with villagers, brought the fire under control after nearly seven hours of joint effort.The affected families have taken shelter in nearby houses, while relief and rescue operations are underway.District magistrate Prashant Arya also visited the village on Tuesday morning to assess the situation.The disaster management department said, "Houses belonging to Prem Singh, Kundan Singh, Ravindra Singh, Umshal Singh, Tilak Singh, Nonyal Singh, Tajam Dei, Dudkali Devi, Virendra Singh, Suvindra Devi, Mohan Singh, and Janak Singh were destroyed."Grain storehouses owned by Janak Singh, Virendra Singh, Prem Singh, Nonyal Singh, Umshal Singh and Sildar Singh were also reduced to ashes.