Shillong’s British-era building damaged in fire, no casualty

Shillong: The heritage British-era Bar Association house, close to the East Khasi Hills deputy commissioner’s office in the city, was partially gutted by fire due to a suspected electricity-related malfunction on Saturday night.
The firefighters doused the flames before any further devastation to the adjoining court complex.
Though there was no human casualty, documents related to pending cases of the clients, computers and furniture went up in flames in the 1913-built wooden Assam-type house.
Chief minister Conrad K Sangma, his deputy Sniawbhalang Dhar, chief secretary D P Wahlang, East Khasi Hills DC R M Kurbah and senior police officials rushed to the spot to review the firefighting activities, which continued well into the night till the flames were extinguished.
“We are yet to determine the exact reason behind the fire but it seems that electric conditions led to the fire accident here. It is very unfortunate. All the officials from the departments concerned are here. We are relieved that there is no loss of life. But there is a loss of infrastructure and there could be a loss of documents too, but we are trying our best to minimise the damage,” the chief minister said.
“The century-old infrastructure is damaged. We will monitor the situation and ensure minimum damage,” the chief minister added.
It is also being suspected that an electric heater inside one of the rooms of the house led to the fire, though the exact cause was yet to be ascertained.
The caretaker of the house said his daughter first noticed the fire around 10 pm and the fire brigade was called immediately.
A senior lawyer rued that with its devastation, a “precious piece of history” of the city has been “smoked away”.