House gutted in fire on Lakshmi Puja evening in Umarga's Kumbhar Galli; youths limit the blaze

A fire broke out suddenly in the house of Mangalbai Chandrakant Gaikwad in the Kumbhar Galli (Kumbhar Patti) area of Umarga town at about 7 pm on Sunday, the 8th, the day of Lakshmi Puja. All the belongings in the house were reduced to ashes. Fortunately, no one was in the house at the time, so there was no major loss of life.

The town was in a festive mood for Lakshmi Puja when people nearby saw smoke and flames coming out of Gaikwad's locked house. The fire quickly turned fierce. It is initially estimated that it was caused by a short circuit. Kumbhar Galli is very densely populated, and there was a serious risk of the fire spreading to neighbouring houses.

Seeing the seriousness of the situation, several youths of the area, including Shankar Sonkamble, Sachin Sutke, Maruti Kharate, Kiran Bansode, Digambar Bhalerao, Vilas Kharate, Dhiraj Kamble, Anil Vhantalkar, Pradip Kamble and Hanumant Bansode, rushed to help. Risking their lives, they sprayed water and tried their best to stop the fire from reaching other houses. Their quick action brought the fire largely under control. The municipal council fire brigade then reached the spot, put out the rest of the fire and brought the situation under control. Hundreds of houses were saved from burning because of the youths' courage.

On learning of the incident, councillor Baba Maske and social worker Sushil Dalgade reached the spot immediately and helped manage the situation. Some people, including former MLA Gyanraj Chaugule, Balimama Survase and Amar Deshatwar, visited the site at night, consoled the affected Gaikwad family and immediately handed over financial help.

On Monday, office-bearers and the vice-president of the Congress committee, local public representatives and other dignitaries also visited the spot, enquired after the family and consoled them. All the belongings of the poor family were burnt, and the family has been left without a roof over its head. Local residents demand that the government conduct a panchnama immediately and give the family substantial government assistance.