His Majesty The King arrived in Bumthang yesterday morning, to visit Chamkhar town, where a fire that broke out on the night of December 28 damaged six buildings.

The buildings consisted of several homes and shops. Desuups and volunteers from the community, which included business owners, civil servants, and monks, assisted RBP firefighters and the fire was brought under control before midnight. Inhabitants were given essential kits and moved to their relatives’ houses.

This is the fourth fire incident in Chamkhar town in recent memory- a series of three fires between October 2010 and May 2011 caused extensive damage.

The first fire incident on October 26, 2010, affected 77 families, and two people lost their lives. The shops were reconstructed within four months, with the help of His Majesty The King’s People’s Project and the armed forces. Two different rows of buildings in Chamkhar town were burned down during the second and third incidents, which took place in February and May 2011. Owners were granted timber, CGI sheets, and other raw materials as Kidu to help rebuild the shops.

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