Ancestral wada gutted in Hingoli, 100 turn homeless

AURANGABAD: Members of a joint family - roughly 100 - became homeless overnight after their ancestral home (wada) caught fire last on Sunday night in Jawlabazaar of Hingoli district, some 170km from Aurangabad.
Authorities said fire brigade personnel had to struggle for 10 hours to bring the blaze under control. Fire tenders sourced from Hingoli town and neighbouring Parbhani were finally able to douse the flames by 8am on Tuesday.
Hatta police station's assistant inspector Gajanan Barate said the fire started between 10pm and 10.30pm. "There are contradictory versions on how the fire started and engulfed the two-storeyed wooden building, said to be from the pre-Independence era," said Barate.
The officer said some members of the family claimed an AC caused the fire following a short circuit. Others are blaming the bursting of firecrackers.
Though no one was injured, family members lost all their valuables, cash, furniture, clothes and other items. The process to estimate the loss - estimated to run into tens of lakhs of rupees - is still underway.
Police said members of the Parihar family had been residing in the wada for decades, and with the passage of time, internal partitions were made in the house. Eight to 10 families resided together in this large complex, which had a country liquor shop on one side. The shop is owned by the family and it was also gutted in the fire.
"After the Laxmi Puja, the family members were busy and only youngsters were bursting firecrackers. That is when the fire was first noticed in a room on the second floor," said a policeman.