Fire Breaks Out in South Kashmir, Mosque Narrowly Escapes Damage | Kashmir Life

SRINAGAR: A fire broke out on Saturday evening in Drabgam area of Pulwama district, damaging a double-storied residential house and threatening a nearby Jamia Masjid before firefighters brought the situation under control, officials said.

Fire and Emergency Services officials said a fire call was received by the District Fire Control Room at around 5:18 pm, following which a fire tender from Fire Station Drabgam was rushed to the spot. As the Jamia Masjid was located close to the affected house, additional fire tenders were mobilised from the District Fire Station Pulwama and the Fire Station Rajpora as a precautionary measure.

Officials said that upon arrival, firefighters faced obstruction when some locals present at the scene allegedly misbehaved and mishandled the motor attached to the fire vehicle, resulting in a mechanical breakdown and briefly hampering operations.

An assessment at the site revealed that a double-storied residential house had caught fire, with dry grass stored in the attic portion fuelling the flames. Due to the proximity, the fire spread dangerously close to the rooftop of the Jamia Masjid.

Despite the challenges, fire personnel managed to cool down the rooftop of the mosque and extinguish the flames in the residential structure, thereby averting a major disaster in the densely populated area.

The firefighting operation was carried out under the overall supervision of Moin ul Islam, Assistant Director, Fire and Emergency Services, Command Pulwama, with mobilisation and on-ground coordination by Mobilising Officer Aijaz Ahmad Shah.

Meanwhile, Additional Director General of Police, Fire and Emergency Services, Alok Kumar, urged the public to avoid storing combustible materials in attic portions of residential houses and to strictly follow fire safety norms to prevent such incidents.

Officials said the cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained and an investigation has been initiated.