Ambicapatty Point-Hospital Road Fire Destroys Shops, Office, and Home: Locals Slam Delayed Fire Response

A devastating fire broke out in the heart of Silchar, engulfing two commercial establishments and the office of a political party. Only one fire engine reached the spot in time to bring the fire under control. This led to complete damage to one shop, a pharmacy and also a residential building. The incident occurred on Hospital Road, one of the busiest areas in the city. While locals say that the fire started from a short-circuit, SP Cachar on the other hand says that the fire started off a gas cylinder,

On Wednesday afternoon, the fire reportedly started from Nandini Enterprise, a business establishment at Ambicapatty Point in Silchar. Before the employees could react, the flames rapidly spread, completely consuming the shop. The fire then extended to a neighbouring pharmacy. Eyewitnesses promptly informed the fire department, which deployed multiple fire engines from various locations. Eyewitness report, fire tenders were late to reach even though the location was at the centre of the town. Only one fire tender reached the spot while the fire was spreading. By then, the fire had gutted the two commercial establishments and the CPI(M) office located on the upper floor.

In addition to that a residential building located at the back also had several damages. Later 8 fire tenders from various service stations reached the spot and brought the fire under control. Two ATMs of SBI and PNB narrowly escaped from being flamed and burnt.

Reportedly the fire first started off a short circuit, from Nandini Enterprise, a hardware store in Ambicapatty Point, Hospital Road at around 11:30 AM. That was doused off and the electric supply was cut. But later when the supply was restored, the short circuit happened again and flames spread quickly.

A local employee of the nearby press said, “At around 11:30 this morning, we first heard of flames being coming out from the first floor of Nandini Enterprise, but by the time we reached there the fire was doused off and we all went back to work. But at around 1 PM people again started yelling that the fire was still there and the flame had spread vigorously before anyone could react. Two shops, of Scientific Reason Pharmacy, Nandini Enterprise have been completely gutted down by the fire, the fire had also spread to CPI(M) office on the first floor and the home at the backside”.

“When we called the fire brigade, first they didn’t come on time and when they came the water tank was very old from ancient times, the pipes were leaking and worn out. Only one tank reached there that was not at all sufficient”, further said the local. The locals are blaming this damage on the fire department for their failure.

Cacahr SP on the other hand has said that the fire had started from a gas cylinder blast. SP Mahatta said, “We have had cooperation from all our fire tender services including ONGC and Assam Rifles to douse off the fire. Cachar Police in cooperation with other teams are trying their best to douse off the fire. Now it is under control. There has been no injury or casualty in the fire. From our preliminary investigation, we found a gas cylinder to be responsible for the fire. I have met with the people and the shop owners and we are giving our best efforts to ensure that there is no further repercussion from this fire. The locals have asked for security at night time since the shops are exposed and we have assured them of police presence”.

The fire has now been fully brought under control, while multiple fire tenders reached the spot. Preliminary investigations suggest that a short circuit may have caused the fire, with the estimated damage amounting to several lakh rupees. SP of Cachar Police, Numal Mahatta, Additional SP Subrata Sen and Silchar MLA Dipayan Chakraborty reached the spot to take stock of the situation