A devastating fire broke out on Tuesday night on Narsingha Dutta Road in Howrah's Bantra police station area, caused by a sky lantern. Within moments, a tiled-roof house was reduced to ashes in the fire. Fortunately, no casualties were reported in this incident. However, the entire area was gripped with panic because of the fire.
According to local sources, around 9:30 PM, several fireworks and sky lanterns were being launched by locals. Among those, a burning sky lantern fell on a tiled-roof house on Narsingha Dutta Road. The plastic sheets spread on the roof of the respective house immediately caught fire from the lantern's flames. The fire quickly engulfed the furniture and other items inside the house. Within a few minutes, the entire house was gutted.
Locals caused a commotion after witnessing the fire. Although locals started trying to extinguish the fire with buckets and water pipes, the flames had got out of control. Upon receiving the news, officials from Bantra police station and a fire engine rushed to the scene. Firefighters entered the premises by breaking through the front door and managed to bring the situation under control after about half an hour of effort.
A firefighter said, "When we reached the scene, we saw the house was completely ablaze. We quickly set up water pipes and brought the fire under control. If timely action hadn't been taken, the fire could have spread to neighbouring houses. There is a private hospital directly opposite the house that caught fire. As news spread, those present on the hospital premises began panicking. Many patients' families rushed out in fear.
Hospital authorities also activated fire safety systems for prevention. A major disaster was averted because of swift measures undertaken. A resident said, "Everyone had almost fallen asleep at night. We suddenly heard screaming outside, and saw flames reaching the sky as I came out. If the fire department hadn't come, an even bigger accident could have happened."
The fire department and police preliminarily suspect that the burning sky lantern was the main cause of the fire. However, other causes behind the fire are being investigated. Although panic spread throughout the area after the incident, everything returned to normalcy by Wednesday morning. Local administration is reviewing the effectiveness of the ban on sky lanterns and fireworks. The fire department has announced that such accidents are repeatedly occurring due to carelessness during festivals. Therefore, citizens are being urged to be cautious.
