Goods worth lakhs gutted in fire at Dehlon

Goods worth lakhs were destroyed in a fire that broke out in a hardware shop situated on Kilaraipur Road at Dehlon village, in Ludhiana district, on Tuesday night.

Though exact loss caused in the mishap is yet to be ascertained, the owner, Parminder Singh, said stocks and fixtures worth Rs 50 lakh were gutted in the incident.

Additional SHO Subash Kataria, who supervised the rescue operations, said the owner had noticed sparking when he was preparing to close the shop at around 9 pm, but the fire spread rapidly before the owner and his associates could try to douse the flames.

Three fire tenders and a coordinated rescue operation by the villagers succeeded in checking the fire from spreading to the upper storey of the shop and the petrol pump that is situated near the shop. In the absence of any suitable water source at the village, the fire tenders had to be refilled from a marriage palace situated at a long distance. The fire was completely doused around 5 am today.

Villagers, led by social activist Paramdeep Singh Deepa, have urged the residents and NRIs from the region to contribute towards a fund being raised on the request of the victim's family for compensating the loss.