A sudden fire that broke out at Bagbazaar in the district headquarters of Dadeldhura district in the wee hours on Sunday gutted over a dozen shops destroying properties worth tens of millions of rupees.

The fire that broke out from a tailoring center spread across the bazaar in no time, according to Chief District Officer (CDO) Shiv Raj Joshi. Personnel from the Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and Nepal Army brought the fire under control after 11 hours, said Joshi. Around 200 security personnel had been deployed to douse the fire reports My Republica online.

Adjacent houses were bulldozed to prevent the fire from spreading. Police claimed that this helped them prevent further damages by the fire.

As per the preliminary police investigation, the fire had broken out due to short circuit. The massive fire not only burned down shops but also residential buildings. The fire caused massive damages as it broke out when it was still dark.

However, locals have accused the government of failing to call the fire fighters on time. “Had the fire fighters reached the incident site on time, the fire would not have caused such a massive damage,” said one of the fire victims.

Bhoj Raj Bhatt, general secretary of the Dadeldhura chapter of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) said ninety percent of goods thrown out of the burning houses by the rescue team were also damaged.

Meanwhile, a four-member probe committee led by assistant CDO Karunkar Awasthi has been formed to collect the details of the damages caused by the fire.

CDO Joshi has also vowed to take necessary steps to provide compensation to the fire victims. “This is probably the biggest fire in Dadeldhura so far,” Joshi added.