Fourteen structures, including six residential houses and eight shops, were gutted in a major fire in Goha area of Marmat in Doda district on Monday.
Reports said the fire incident occurred at around 1:15 pm in the main market of Goha area, 42 kilometer from the district headquarter town. While 4 houses and eight shops were reduced to ashes, 2 houses received partial damages.
Several fire tenders were rushed to the area to douse the flames, reports said, adding that police, locals and army launched a joint operation to bring the flames under control in the densely-populated area.
A fire official said no injury or casualty has been reported in the incident, while the exact loss could not be ascertained yet.
SP operations Doda, Ravinder Pal Singh said hat the fire has been completely extinguished. “…and we are assessing the losses,” he said.
Prima facie, he said, short circuit is believed to have caused the fire which was followed by gas cylinder blasts.
“I have taken the matter up with the district development commissioner, Anshul Garg. The priority right now is to provide relief to the affected families and rehabilitate them as soon as possible,” the SP said, adding that an FIR has been registered and further investigations are going on.
Pertinently, on January 12, ten structures, including three houses and seven shops, were gutted in Kahara area of the district.