More than ten houses were in the wee hours of Wednesday gutted in a massive fire in the Gulab village near the Line of Control (LoC) in north  Kashmir’s Gurez.

Further damage was controlled by s quick reaction team of a nearby Army unit that carried firefighting equipment and immediately rushed to the village to assist the villagers.

Expressing deep anguish over the fire Incident, Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha directed the District Administration Bandipora to conduct an on-the-spot assessment and provide immediate relief to the affected families.

Acting on the directions, the district authorities have immediately supplied blankets, sustenance kits (Cooking Oil, Pulses, etc.), household utensils, and immediate cash assistance of Rs 1.50 lakh (15000/- to each family).

Temporary rehabilitation and shifting shall also be arranged wherever required.

Further, a relief of Rs 1.10 lakh to each affected family whose residential structure has been completely damaged shall be released tomorrow under SDRF norms.

An Army spokesman said that at about 2.30 am, a massive fire broke out at Gulab village near the Line of Control in Gurez. A nearby Army post spotted the fire in the village and a quick reaction team from the post carrying firefighting equipment immediately rushed to the village to assist the villagers.

More than ten houses of the village were gutted in the roaring flames and were razed to the ground.

The fire is believed to have started from the house of Ghulam Nabi Lone, who works as a porter with the Army.

The Army team being the first responders to the situation evacuated the villagers from their houses, while simultaneously dousing the fire. They were able to minimize the damages by containing the fire until the fire department reached the village at around 4.30 am.

The joint team of the Army and fire departments soon extinguished the fire completely and were able to save many precious lives through their proactive and swift action.

After a grueling night of firefighting, the Army provided succor to the villagers in the form of breakfast, tentages, sleeping bags, and food supplies to mitigate their hardships.