Excelsior Correspondent
KATHUA, May 24: Two houses were gutted in separate mishaps in tehsil Hiranagar while alert was sounded in Nagrota Budhi village after wild fire spread towards residential locality today.
Reports said in a fire incident, in the house of one Parshotam Singh at Gurha Balu near Hiranagar this afternoon, property worth over Rs 5 lakh was completely destroyed. The housewife and two children however, ran out to safety. The landlord had gone away from home when the incident took place.
A fire tender from Hiranagar arrived after some time but the entire house was already in flames. Short circuit was said to be the reason behind the incident. The police has taken cognizance.
Later, Tehsildar Rajiv Magotra, SHO Hiranagar Karanveer Singh and MLC Subash Gupta also visited the spot. They provided some assistance to the family from local administration.
Another fire incident took place in the house of one Tej Ram, son of Badri Nath at Gurha Morh in Hiranagar during mid day today. Over 75% household items were gutted in the incident.
Another report said that panic gripped a locality near Nagrota-Budhi after wild fire started moving towards residential area. The villagers shifted their household items and valuables to safer locations. The firemen and police reached there after the villagers pleaded for help. The fire was controlled with the help of villagers and the firemen. The army had also been requested for the assistance.
Meanwhile, a cow was charred to death while three cattle injured after a shed caught fire at Chak Ram Singh near Govindsar last night. Reports said the cattle shed of Surinder Singh caught fire and his one cow was killed and three others sustained serious injuries.