NONGPOH, May 9: Seven shops were gutted in the wee hours of Tuesday as a fire broke out near Nongpoh Town Shopping Complex and Meghalaya Apex Bank premises here.
The establishments reduced to ashes include tea and fruit shops. A hardware store, however, only sustained minor damage thanks to the swift action by the CRPF personnel of E/67 Battalion posted in Nongpoh.
When the fire was caught around 2 am, the CRPF raised the alarm and COY personnel along with QAT E/67 (49 personnel) rushed to the scene and were able to control the situation. They also informed the Fire & Emergency Services and Nongpoh Police Station about the incident.
The cause of the fire was not known till the filing of this report.
Three firefighting parties of E/67 Bn CRPF cordoned off the area and attempted to extinguish the fire with water from nearby wells. After some time, Fire & Emergency Services arrived and were able to put out the flames.
At the time of the incident, there was no electricity due to the ongoing load-shedding.
The COY personnel’s prompt actions prevented the fire from spreading and causing further damage to nearby establishments such as the Meghalaya Apex Bank ATM.
