A fire that broke out in Gamgadhi, the headquarters of Mugu district, last night gutted 20 houses and destroyed millions of property. The fire that started from the house of Thille Lama at Tallo Bazar in Gamgadhi at 12 last night spread to other houses. Twenty houses were burnt to ashes resulting in property loss of millions of rupees.

The inferno destroyed the houses of Thille Lama, Ratan Bahadur Shahi, Jan Bahadur Hitan, Dan Bahadur Hitan, Janak Bahadur Malla, Jhomba Lama, Angal Lama, Dambar Malla, Torche Lama, Guru Lama, Tashi Lama, Prithvi Jung Shah, Chhatra Bahadur Malla, Shakuntala Shahi, Bishal Malla, Laxmi Shahi, Putali Shahi, Kushalal Sawat, Goma Malla and Tshering Lama.

Although the houses have been burnt to ashes, no human casualties have been reported in the incident, the District Police Office said. Police said goods and property worth millions belonging to those living in rent and running shops at these houses have been destroyed in the disaster.

Police is currently collecting information from the house owners and shopkeepers regarding the extent of losses. It is said the fire has destroyed goods and properties worth a hundred million factoring in the current price of houses and the goods in the shops. The property damage has been estimated around Rs 1 billion, Deputy Superintendent at the District Police Office, Chitra Bhattarai, said.

It took around five hours for the Nepali Army, the Armed Police Force, Nepal Police, Municipal Police and locals to bring the fire under control. The fire took massive proportion as the most of the houses were made of stone, mud and wood. Nobody could pick up their goods and belongings as the incident took place in the middle of the night.

Although the Gamgadhi Drinking Water Consumers Committee released water emptying the reservoir supplying water to Gamgadhi town, it was difficult to douse the huge inferno.

Meanwhile, a meeting of the District Disaster Management Committee which convened at 10 am today decided to urge the federal, province and local governments, the chambers of commerce and industry and other organisations for providing relief to the affected people for reconstructing their houses.

It also decided to urge the security bodies to extend support in collecting the details of the losses. The meeting was chaired by Committee coordinator Purna Bahadur Rokaya.