Ten houses were destroyed in a fire at Vadakku Veethi in Thengaithittu on Friday afternoon. There was no loss of life during the mishap as the residents, mostly daily wage workers, were away at work and the children were out playing.
According to the residents, the fire started at around 10.30 am in the thatched hut of Anchalakshi (50) and it spread to the nearby houses. The flames engulfed the houses of Meena, Sarala, Senthamarai, Rugmini, Anusia, Thilagavathi and Fathima.
Meanwhile, the public gathered and tried to put out the fire. Some youth in the area managed to remove the gas cylinders from the houses. Three women, who tried to salvage their belongings fainted and had to be rushed the hospital.
Three firetenders from Puducherry and Gorimedu fire stations were rushed to the area and the personnel had to fight for nearly an hour before the flames were doused.
The firemen broke the link between the houses to prevent the flames from spreading. Most of the residents’ belongings were charred and they were left without anything but the clothes they were wearing. The household utensils, fridges, almirahs and clothes were gutted in the fire.
One of the residents, Anchalakshi, from whose house the fire is believed to have started, claimed she lost over `40,000 in cash and four sovereigns of gold kept for her daughter’s ‘Manjal Neerattu’.An unofficial estimate put the losses at around `10 lakh. The Revenue officials are on the job of assessing the damage of each individual houses.
Assembly Speaker V Sabapathy, AIADMK MLAs, Anbalagan and Baskar visited the houses and consoled the victims.
One of the residents, Kanagavalli, said the administration should provide assistance to them for rebuilding the houses as a concrete structure, which would prevent the mishap from happening again.
Though the cause of fire is still to be ascertained, it is suspected that electrical short circuit was the reason for the fire. Mudaliarpet police registered a case and are investigating.