20120521 Nepal HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE
Nepal May 20 2012 “Building” “Houses”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 1 to 29 Injured : injured 1 to 9
HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE
Updated: 2012-05-22
KATHMANDU: Experts have urged the general public to be extra cautious while using mosquito coils at homes after the repellent was found to be the cause behind three recent incidents of fire in the Valley.
The risk of fire has increased as Valley households, reeling under power cuts, leave the coils unattended in a corner of the house close to inflammable objects, they say.
In the three incidents of fire reported over a week, a child sustained burns while property worth millions was gutted.
Grocery items worth Rs 30,000 was reduced to ashes after Santosh Thapa’s shop in Madhyapur, on May 18. Local residents however extinguished the blaze, which started from a mosquito coil, and prevented it from spreading to other buildings.
On May 17, five-year-old Ujwal Lama sustained burns after a fire broke out inside his family’s rented room in Balkot, Bhaktapur. Police investigators said the fire began from a burning mosquito repellent coil. Property worth over Rs 160,000 was also gutted.
Likewise, yesterday, property worth Rs 80,000 was reduced to ashes when a fire engulfed Ashmin Adhikari’s shop in Gongabu. The source of the fire was the same.
Lila Bahadur Gachha Magar, chief of Juddha Barun Yantra, said mosquito coils should be properly placed on their stands away from the carpeted floor. “It is also better to keep it away from the bed and inflammable items such as cooking gas,” he suggested.
Websource: The Himalayan Times