Three buildings razed in fire Blaze in same area within 10 months

The buildings that caught fire in Darjeeling on Friday. Picture by Suman Tamang

Vivek Chhetri, TT, Darjeeling, March 8: A fire broke out along H.D. Lama Road here today and razed three buildings which had escaped another blaze 10 months back. 

No deaths have been reported. 

The fire started from the house of Chesum Doma Bhutia, who had locked the place and gone to attend a wedding at a hotel, around 300 meters away. As two of the three buildings were wooden structures, the fire spread quickly. 

“Around 11.10am, I was told that a fire had started. I rushed to my house only to see it go up in flames. My husband was in one of the rooms watching TV and was to come to the wedding a little later. I suspect it was a short-circuit that started the fire,” said Bhutia. 

Chesum’s husband Dawa Sangbo said he was watching TV when the fire started from one of the rooms upstairs in the three storied wooden structure. “I scrambled out of my bed and went to the road. I escaped with minor injuries but could not save anything.” 

Within less than half-an-hour two other buildings, one of which was a two-storied residential wooden structure and the other a concrete four- storied building that housed a hotel, were completely gutted. Three fire tenders were immediately pressed into service. Army personnel stationed at Jalapahar were also called. The fire was brought under control by 2.30pm. Apart from the fire tenders, tankers that were ferrying drinking water to Darjeeling residents from the outskirts of town, also emptied their water at the fire site. 

Ten families who had their houses along with five business establishments, including two hair salons, two garment shops, and an electronic shop were razed to the ground. All the three buildings had fruit and vegetable markets on the ground floors and they were also gutted. 

Saumitra Mohan, the district magistrate, along with senior police officials and GTA Sabha members Binay Tamang and Taranga Pandit, visited the spot. 

Tamang, who is also the executive member in charge of the fire services in the GTA, said: “The total loss has been estimated to be around Rs 4.5 crore. Thirty-three affected people will be provided with shelter at the Marwari Sahay Samity Hall. Soon after the fire, I spoke to the state’s fire minister and the director-general of fire services. They have decided to send a team to inquire into the incident as it is getting repeated in that particular area too often.” 

Phu Doma, who runs the hotel which also houses their residence said: “Last time we had a lucky escape but today we lost everything.” She said there were occupants in two rooms of her hotel but she could not confirm whether they were tourists. 

Mohan said: “I can confirm no one was injured.” 

On April 20, 2012, a fire had gutted around 100 business establishments in the same area. The buildings, gutted today, stood on the other side of H.D.Lama Road and rescuers managed to contain the fire before it spread to other buildings. The same area had also been damaged in a fire on November 17, 1971.