Chencho Dema | Punakha
Four families lost everything in the fire that razed their homes to the ground in Lhungkha under Dzomi gewog, Punakha, at 11am on March 11.
When the police and fire brigade reached the spot, the three houses were ablaze, sources said. The firefighters contained the fire at around 4pm, by then it had gutted three adjacent houses.
Two families lived in one of the three houses.
Firefighters and volunteers battled the fire for hours and contained it by 4pm
The fire incident was reported to the police by the Dzomi Gup Dawa Tashi.
It was learnt that the fire started from the middle house and then spread to the other two houses nearby. It is believed that the probable cause of the fire was overheating of the curry cooker, which then started the fire in the middle house.
There were no casualties, either among people or animals while police are investigating the cause of the fire.
The victims received cash soelra of Nu 10,000 each through the dzongkhag administration along with tents and ration.
In a separate incident on the same day, a mother and a daughter in Gangtosa village of Norboogang gewog in Samtse lost their house in a fire accident. The semi-permanent house caught fire at around 12:30pm. The cause of the fire is unknown.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Dr Lotay Tshering wrote to all dzongdags to ensure that their administration lists down all the precautions and potential weak points that could trigger a fire accident and make everyone know about it.
Lyonchhen said that all the transformers in the locality and their load-bearing capacity to be checked and also to standardise miniature circuit breakers (MCB) in all homes.
He instructed the dzongkhag administration to investigate all homes and make them replace all faulty and poor quality wiring, faulty connections and extensions. “Conduct fire drills regularly,” his message to the dzongdags stated.