Mishap: A two-storied traditional house in Khapti village in Samkhar gewog, Trashigang was almost razed to the ground during the wee hours of February 14.

No casualties were reported, but the house owner is reported to have lost more then 50 percent of his belongings to the fire.  The owner was away when the fire occurred.

According to Samkhar gup, Sonam Dorji, the fire occurred at around 2am, when the family members, a middle-aged woman and her three children, were asleep.

The fire had started somewhere from the ceiling, and it was only when the heat started intensified that the woman woke up to find the house on fire.

“Police and firefighters reached around 3am and we could contain the fire by 5am,” he said. “We could only save the items that were on the ground floor.”

The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, but villagers suspect it could have started from an electric short circuit.

By Tshering Wangdi,  Trashigang