SRINAGAR, JAN 1 — At least 14 fire incidents were reported across the Kashmir Valley over the past 24 hours, causing damage to residential houses, shops, religious structures, haystacks and trees in multiple districts, officials said on Thursday.
Fire and Emergency Services personnel were deployed in Srinagar, Sopore, Kupwara, Anantnag, Kulgam, Pulwama and Bandipora to control the blazes and prevent them from spreading to nearby structures. No loss of life or injuries were reported in any of the incidents.
“Timely intervention by fire service teams helped bring all the fires under control and prevented major losses,” an official from the Fire and Emergency Services department said.
North Kashmir witnessed several incidents, including a major fire that broke out in a single-storey shopping complex comprising seven shops at Kongrusa in Rafiabad area of Sopore. Another fire gutted three shops in the main market of Dangiwacha. Separate incidents involving haystacks were reported from Kunzer, Wanigam and Peernia, where a single-storey structure of the Jhelum Hydro Project was also damaged.
In Kupwara district, a double-storey residential house at Lastiyal in Kalaroos was damaged, while a single-storey house at Arambagh, Payerpora, and two wooden sheds at Washipora in Handwara caught fire in separate incidents.
Srinagar district reported damage to chinar trees along the Shivpora Bund, while similar damage to trees was reported from Adlash in the Seergufwara area of Anantnag.
In south Kashmir, a fire affected a double-storey Jamia Ahli Hadees mosque at Nayi Basti in Anantnag. Two haystacks were damaged at Kathnarg–Deknarg in Kulgam, while a double-storey cowshed caught fire in the Zakhram area of Keller in Pulwama district. Another haystack was damaged in Madain Mohalla of Bandipora.
Officials said investigations were underway to ascertain the causes of the fires, adding that residents have been advised to follow safety precautions, particularly during the winter season when fire incidents tend to rise.