Dr Jog Bhatia,DM expert

                                                                         It was 1130 hrs on 27th January ,2018, that fire broke out in a shop of Dirang market due to spillage of kerosene in an unattended  fire heater (Bukhari). The shop keeper couldnt control it as there was no fire extinguisher available there and due to wooden structure the fire spread very rapidly. Soon the fire caught grip on the flammable  hazardous materials in the shop like kerosene, patrol, LPG cylinder etc and exploded violently.

The data collected by interviewing shopkeepers and households nearby revealed that a large number of shopkeepers and households in Dirang keep stock of kerosene and patrol illegally for sale. The fire started spreading in neighbor shops. All the shops were made up of wooden structure and easily caught fire. LPG cylinders in various shops and houses and various flammable material and chemicals started bursting and further exuberated the fire. Almost all the shops were selling the products which were made up of flammable material like woolen cloths, Warm bed sheets, Electronics items, wine shops, motor workshop etc. About twenty LPG cylinders exploded in this incident which further exuberated the fire and losses. The wind was also blowing towards the north direction where all Dirang market is located. At 1200hrs , ITBP troops saw heavy smoke clouds coming from market and informed the commanders. Immediately ,the troops were sensitized and under the leadership of Sh.Pankaj Verma, 2I/C, everyone moved towards the market. Sh. Rajindra Adhikari, Deputy Commandant, Sh. Choyang Tsepa, Assistant Commandant, Dr. Jog Bhatia, Assistant Commandant and Sh. Yashwant Thakur, Assistant Commandant worked very efficiently in a great synergy and coordinated the troops for the rescue operation. There was a heavy chaos in the market. The spectators crowd had gathered. Shopkeepers were trying to take out the items from their shops and collecting them on road. Local people were helping each other. ITBP personnel immediately joined the locals for rescue. Water buckets were collected. While local administration was also trying to convince people to come out of their houses and use water to curb fire, people were in panic and were resistant to leave valuables in their shops and houses. Looking into the situation, Dr. Jog Bhatia, Assistant Commandant, who is also qualified International Hazardous Material (HAZMAT) specialist, immediately arranged PA system from the local electronics shop and started announcing for public and directing the local volunteers and troops for further actions. He announced to people to not to worry at all as ITBP, SSB ,local administration has already reached to save them. He further announced repeatedly to collect valuable papers, jewelry and cash and immediately abandon their houses and shops and told them to follow road and move to the safer place towards Dirang river. They were repeatedly told not to make crowd and help their elders, ladies, children and pets to vacate their houses immediately and move to safe zone. In the mean time , water tankers from GREF and NIMAS reached the site. Announcements were made to make up human chain bucket brigade to speed up pouring water. Meanwhile ,the ITBP personnel helped local people to evacuate with their valuables house to house and shop to shop. ITBP jawans showed excessive courage to reach people on first and second floors of houses and evacuate them all. As shop keepers had spread their items on road in front of their shops, the fire spread to the opposite side of the road through the flammable material. It was also blocking the road. Standby locals along with ITBP, SSB jawans were directed to clean the road immediately as the flammable materials including carats of bear, wine and various alcoholic products may exuberate the fire further and was making the road congested. People were also requested by announcement to switch off their LPG gas connections and bring out the cylinders of their houses. Although, all the people were evacuated and brought to safe distance, the fire was spreading uncontrolled shop to shop and house to house towards north due to blowing wind. It was decided to brake the fire from spreading by demolishing the houses in route to save Dirang township. Local administration immediately arranged JCB machine. ITBP Himveers along with JCB machine dismantled two houses with a great speed. Even one of the house that was demolished was of an ITBP officer posted at Dirang only. It worked. The fire couldnt find the further track to move. In the mean time at about 1400hrs , fire tender from Bomdila also reached the site. The fire was brought totally under control at 1600 hrs. ITBP and SSB jointly helped local administration for rehabilitation of the affected people and providing drinking water and food to them. In the incident, forty shops and houses were gutted to ashes. The estimate loss of property and valuables as calculated by local administration committee is about ten crores. The biggest thing of relief is that there was no causality at all. It all became possible due to prompt action of ITBP officers and personnel who timely evacuated the people from their houses and shops.