Fire guts 17 houses in Rhenock Bazaar, renders 27 families homeless

GANGTOK, 02 Feb: A blazing midnight fire at Rhenock bazaar has changed the landscape of the main bazaar area. The fire has totally gutted 17 houses/ shops and partially damaged another around 5 buildings which had extensions into the bazaar area.
While no serious injuries were reported, three people suffered minor injuries as a result of a cylinder blast. The cylinder which had been kept in one of the blazing houses exploded with a blast in the night injuring some. However, as the BDO, Rhenock, BL Adhikari, informs, there were no serious injuries.
The fire broke out at around 1:45 a.m. in one of the shops at the bazaar area and soon spread to other adjoining buildings. Some of the houses were of ekra, wood and partly pucca and caught fire easily.
Rhenock has no fire station so fire brigades rushed in from Pakyong, Rangpo, Singtam and Kalimpong as well. A firefighting team also arrived from Gangtok, informed Dy CFO, Prakash Rai. He stated that the fire was fought by around 30 to 40 fire personnel and it took nearly 4 hours to completely douse the flames. The town was then covered in dense smoke for the most part of the morning.
While the actual cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained the initial suspicion is that a short circuit in one of the house could have led to the fire.
BDO-Rhenock further informed that apart from local residents who helped douse the flames, army personnel from Chalisey along with SSB personnel also helped in fighting the flames.
Area MLA, Bhim Dhungel also rushed to the spot as did the DC, East, J Raje to assess the situation.
A total of 17 houses have been completely damaged and about 27 families are informed to have been affected due to the blaze. Many of the houses had tenants residing in them. The affected families have been provided an alternative temporary shelter. A few neighbouring buildings have suffered partial damage.
The residents of the area later took out a rally as a show of support for the victims of the fire as well as to make a demand for a fire station for the town. Chief Minister Pawan Chamling also visited the area later in the day. Before leaving for Rhenock he announced ex gratia relief of Rs. 2 lakh for each totally gutted house and Rs. 1 lakh for partially damaged house in Rhenock. In addition he announced Rs. 50,000 for the injured. He also commented that the government has been planning a firehouse at Rhenock for the past three years, but has not been able to do so because no one has agreed to provide the land for it. Now, the process of setting up a fire station in Rhenock will be expedited, he had announced.