Kohima fire leaves a trail of devastation

Morung Express News
Kohima |March 1

“My house was completely razed down in the fire,” said Rokoneizo Viswentso, a resident of Upper Chandmari colony who lost his house of almost 35 years in the major fire that broke out at Mao Market, Kohima on Monday evening. 

Along with firefighters and volunteers, Rokoneizo was busy controlling the fire from further spreading using water from their own water storage. Rokoneizo had not expected that the fire would spread towards his house. Having exhausted all the available water, and as they waited for further reinforcements, his house too caught fire. The only article he could retrieve from his burning house was his wallet.

As further official reports are awaited for the complete assessment of the disaster, the massive fire is said to have destroyed about seven buildings including two major commercial buildings of South Kohima which housed diverse services for citizens such as garment stores, vegetables, poultry, secondhand stores, groceries, and other utilities.

After dinner, Rokoneizo had come out to visit a friend when he saw people rushing towards Mao market. On reaching the spot, he heard one mistri mentioning that the fire was caused by a short circuit. Two fire tenders were parked and fire hose pipes were being used to douse off the fire. “As the fire fighters kept pacing back and forth trying to extend the fire hose pipes, the water was exhausted. A lot of time was wasted as we waited for reinforcements,” said Rokoneizo.

“We could only retrieve a few important documents. We lost almost everything,” lamented Rokongulie, a resident of Porterlane Colony whose three storey building housing five families was destroyed in the fire. Among the five families, there were eight school going children with one of his nieces preparing for the HSSLC exams in March. “It has been heartbreaking, but our hearts have been encouraged and strengthened because all the help extended by people,” he said.

“It was around 5:00 pm. We had just returned home after casting our votes and having our tea when I saw some black smoke coming out from the first floor of Mao market,” recalled K (who wished to remain anonymous), a resident of Porterlane Colony. Sensing danger, she alerted the colony, shouting from her terrace and informing the Fire and Emergency Services.

“You could feel the heat even from a long distance. The heat melted our greenhouse on the terrace of our building,” she added. The heat was even felt at the Nagaland Police Headquarters. As the fire continued, she witnessed volunteers and strangers help retrieve belongings from houses close to the fire.

According to K, the fire continued till 5:00 am on Tuesday morning as firefighters and volunteers continued to work tirelessly to douse off the fire.

“From Monday 5:00 pm till Tuesday 11:00 am, our firefighters have been working to douse the fire, while salvage works still continues. We are carrying out investigations, however we are yet to finalise our official report,” informed an official source.

Witnesses point to inefficient,  ill equipped fire & emergency services
While the firefighters as well as volunteers worked continuously for more than 12 hours to douse off the fire, eyewitnesses and onlookers have pointed out the inefficiency and ill-equipped machineries of the Nagaland Fire and Emergency Services.

“Despite the incident happening just 200 metres away from the fire station, they could not stop the fire,” said a resident of Porterlane colony.

“Some of the fire hose pipes were leaking. Reinforcements were late. We waited for quite some time for other fire tenders to reach. Water could not be arranged on time nor could they pump water properly despite the presence of a lake in the area,” stated Rokoneizo.

The moment the flames reached NM market (a seven storey timber building), the fire was out of control as onlookers watched the entire building go up in flames, as it extended further towards the residential buildings.

“A lot of time was wasted. It took almost an hour for them to function. There was not enough water,” said Rokongulie.

“I understand that one cannot control fire. We can’t predict how far the fire can stretch, but there is a maybe. Had they been more equipped, better prepared, more efficient, maybe, my house could have been saved,” rued Rokoneizo.

For Rokoneizo, “it was a lifetime of savings, a lifetime of memories” that was razed down in one night.

CM provides Rs 20 lakhs from CMRF 
Nagaland Chief Minister, Neiphiu Rio visited the Mao Market fire incident site on February 28 and took stock of information and measures taken by the Fire & Emergency Services and District Administration. 

He met the affected families whose shops and residences were burnt down in the massive fire incident, informed a report from the DIPR. Taking stock of the situation, the Chief Minister provided Rs 20 Lakh from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund as financial assistance to the affected families who were victims of the incident.  

The Chief Minister was accompanied by DC Kohima, Shanavas C IAS; SP Kohima, Imnalensa; Kohima Village T Khel council members, and other government officials.