One dies in house fire at Mahisagar village

TNN | Updated: Jun 2, 2019, 4:00 IST

Some villagers trying to douse the blaze

Vadodara: One person died and another suffered severe burn injuries when fire broke out in a house in the Saradiya village of Virpur taluka in Mahisagar district. Organisations from the village had demanded a fire-fighting facility in December last year under the leadership of the Gujarat Kshatriya Thakor Sena (GKTS).
The incident took place late on Friday night at the kutcha house of one Bhalabhai Solanki when he was sleeping along with his wife and two children. The fire is suspected to have been triggered by a short circuit in the house.
Solanki and his wife suffered serious burn injuries. Solanki succumbed while being rushed for treatment. His wife’s condition is said to be serious and she has been referred to the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital.
A representation made by the GKTS in December 2018 has now come into focus in wake of the incident. GKTS Mahisagar president Rajendrasinh Thakor said that there were some incidents of fire earlier too in wake of which the demand was made. “The nearest fire station is in Lunawada which is over 20km away. It takes quite some time for the fire brigade to reach here,” he said.
Thakor added that several organisations and institutes had supported the demand. “We had made a detailed file and given it to the mamlatdar (executive magistrate) at that stage, but the facility is yet to come up,” he said.

Virpur taluka mamlatdar V D Patel said that the representations may have been done before he arrived. He said that a major hurdle for setting up a fire station in the taluka was the fact that it did not have any municipality. “Fire brigades are set up in municipalities as a policy so far. They are in a position to maintain the facility,” he said.
Patel added that there are also no industrial units in the taluka that keep fire tenders. He said that the victim in the incident on Friday night had died as a plastic sheet used on the roof of the house caught fire and fell on him giving him little chance to escape. Also, fodder had been kept in the house making things worse.