Miraculous escape for Nayagaon family

Tribune News Service

Mohali, May 6

A family in the Janta Colony area of Nayagaon had a miraculous escape after an LPG regulator caught fire but the cylinder did not explode here on Wednesday.

However, all household items, including a refrigerator, a television, doors, windows and items kept in the kitchen and the adjoining room, worth Rs4 lakh were gutted. Luckily, the cylinder did not explode. A fire brigade, which reached the spot after two hours, had to face problems in dousing the flames due to narrow lanes.

House owner Deepak Chauhan said the incident took place on Wednesday when one of his family members was preparing breakfast. The gas regulator caught fire all of a sudden. The family had purchased the regulator from a gas agency on April 30 and it was installed two days ago.

He said the family member preparing breakfast raised an alarm. He immediately rushed to the kitchen and tried to douse the flames with the help of a bucket of water. However, it further aggravated the problem. Had the cylinder burst, it could have not only caused damage to his newly constructed house, but also damaged the adjoining building.

Deepak said: “We rang up the fire brigade and the gas agency twice. The fire brigade took around two hours to reach the house. As the fire tender could not enter the narrow lanes, officials faced difficulty in reaching our house. Some persons from the gas agency reached the house after around two hours and gave a verbal assurance on compensation”.

Rajveer Singh, Councillor from Ward No 15, said the government should provide small fire tenders which could enter narrow lanes of Janata Colony and other areas. It should also provide fire extinguishers that could help in preventing the fire from spreading in the entire house.

All household items gutted

All household items, including a refrigerator, a television, doors, windows and items kept in the kitchen and the adjoining room worth Rs4 lakh were gutted. Luckily, the cylinder did not burst. A fire brigade, which reached the spot after two hours, had to face problems in dousing the flames due to narrow lanes.