Kelzang Wangchuk | Samdrupjongkhar 

A single-storey house was razed to the ground in Dewathang, Samdrupjongkhar around 9pm on January 6.

Armed force personnel, DeSuups and local residents contained the fire before it spread to nearby houses.  The fire brigade and RBA tankers doused the fire around 10:20pm.

The house had a huge stock of planks and other construction materials which made it difficult for the firefighters to control it.

There was no one living in the house because the house was used as a store for the construction materials.

The construction materials, about three truckloads of seasoned planks and other materials, have been lost in the fire. The front portion of the owner’s main house attached to the store was also partially damaged.

According to sources, the owner of the store lost the construction materials worth about Nu 1.5 million.

Meanwhile, the investigation team from the Royal Insurance Corporation of Bhutan’s (RICB) regional office visited the site to carry out the verification of the damages yesterday.

“But we could not help the victim as it was not insured for both commercial and rural insurance,” the manager, Sonam Dendup, said, adding that the team convinced the victim to insure in future.

Sources said that no casualties were reported and the cause of the fire is still under investigation.