Alert neighbours beat down fire in locked appartment

GANGTOK, 05 May: A major fire was averted by the prompt thinking and action of locals here at Chandmari Wednesday evening.
A resident of Chandmari saw smoke coming out from a closed window of a rented room below the meat shop opposite TT&T Garage situated at Upper Chandmari ahead of the Forest Check post on the road going towards Dechiling at around 5.30 in the evening. He immediately informed the meat shop owner, but by then other residents had also noticed the smoke coming out of the window.

Taking action immediately, the locals bringing a fire extinguisher from a nearby shop broke open the door [as the person living in the rented room had gone out], while others broke the window panes and started to pour water using water pipes running along the jhora.
This prompt response by the locals and the use of water along with the fire extinguisher immediately brought the fire under control. To douse the embers that had caught the bedding, they then threw the bedding into the jhora adjoining the window.
“We received the fire call at 17.40 PM and immediately the AFT along with fire tenders left for Chandmari,” informs Prakash Rai [Deputy Chief Fire Officer, Fire and Emergency Service], while speaking to NOW! It was the promptness of the locals of using the fire extinguisher from the nearby shops and water they were able to bring the fire under control by the time the fire personnel reached the site and thereby averted a major fire accident from taking place, he added.