A massive fire erupted in an area where the Public Health Engineering (PHE) department stores equipments at Lumshyiap here today.
Following the incident, a thick black smoke was seen billowing from the site and fire tenders were rushed to the spot to douse the flame. Local authorities also took precautionary measures by cutting power supply till the fire was contained.
Rangbah Shnong of Lumshyiap, Phira Khongphai said that the fire started around 2 pm.
The expected origin of the fire could likely be from the forest but it is yet to be ascertained.
Phira said it is suspected that children must have played with fire in the nearby forest that eventually spread to the other side where the PHE stores pipes.
According to him, around eight to ten fire tenders tried to douse the massive fire.
Rolls of HDPE pipes melted into flames as engineers of the PHE department watched helplessly.
PHE Executive Engineer, A Sunn informed that the initial estimated loss because of the fire incident was around Rs 80-85 lakhs.
Sunn added that they will hold a discussion with the locality head about handing over the property in order that they can properly fence the area.
The Rangbah Shnong said a meeting of the executive committee will soon be held to discuss about measures and advisories that can be taken to avoid such incidents.
