20160410 India 16 acres of wheat crop burnt, 52 houses destroyed in fire in 2 villages
India Apr 10 2016 “Houses” “Other”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 30 to 69 Injured : injured 1 to 9
16 acres of wheat crop burnt, 52 houses destroyed in fire in 2 villages
Updated: 2016-04-10-22:58
Nearly 16 acres of standing wheat crop was reduced to ash, 52 homes burnt down and six people sustained burn injuries after massive fires broke out in two villages in Puranpur tehsil on Sunday.
What worsened the impact of the blazes was that the sole fire brigade in Puranpur town was deployed to douse the flames in Madhotanda village, and reached the other hamlet, Heerpur, three hours after the fire broke out there. The cause of the fires could not be ascertained, police said.
In Madhotanda, the blaze broke out around 11.45am, burning down 8 acres of wheat crop. The fire brigade reached the hamlet from Puranpur half an hour later after villagers informed authorities. The flames in the village did not spread to houses and no casualties were reported.
In Heerpur, which was the worst-affected of the two villages, the fire began around 2pm. It soon swept across 8 acres of wheat fields. The flames also burnt down 52 thatched huts, causing burn injuries to six people, three of them children. They have been identified as Ashok Kumar (30), Sita Devi (20), Nitin (20), Ram Singh (14), Pinki (7) and Saurabh (3). The injured have been shifted to the government hospital at Puranpur.
The fire brigade reached Heerpur around 5pm, some three hours after the fire started. The time lapse, locals say, proved extremely costly and allowed the fire to cause widespread damage. Explaining the delay, Pilibhit SP Brijeshwar Singh said that Puranapur has just one fire engine. As the engine was deployed to fight the raging blaze at Madhotanda, it could not reach Heerpur in time, he said.
Besides, till the time of going to press, no team from the revenue department had reached the two fire-struck hamlets with necessary provisions and relief material, as is the norm. This, despite district magistrate Masoom Ali Sarvar directing Puranpur sub-divisional magistrate Gyanendra Singh to make all efforts to ensure timely relief operations.
Despite repeated phone calls, TOI could not get in touch with the SDM. Sarvar told TOI that the fire victims will be provided all possible assistance.
Web Source: THE TIMES OF INDIA
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bareilly/16-acres-of-wheat-crop-burnt-52-houses-destroyed-in-fire-in-2-villages/articleshow/51769537.cms