Fire Engulfs Nainital’s Saraswati Shishu Mandir, Principal And Son Rescued

Nainital: The principal of Saraswati Shishu Mandir and his son, who were trapped inside the school building during the major fire on Tuesday evening, have been safely rescued, SP Nainital Jagdish Chandra confirmed on Tuesday.

SP Nainital Jagdish Chandra said, "Around 7:15 pm, the control room received information that a fire had broken out on the second floor of the Saraswati Shishu Mandir located at China Baba. Fire teams were immediately dispatched from the fire station, and the District Collector subsequently dispatched vehicles from nearby fire stations... The fire was brought under control by the locals and fire teams. The operation lasted approximately an hour. The fire is now completely under control."

He further added, "During this operation, the principal of the Saraswati Shishu Mandir and his son, who were inside, were rescued... To prevent any further incidents at night, a fire tender has been deployed there and the traffic that was there has also been declared normal after being stopped for some time."

A major fire that broke out at Saraswati Shishu Mandir in Nainital's China Baba area on Tuesday evening was brought under control within an hour, with no loss of life reported, according to the officials.

Earlier, multiple fire tenders were rushed to the scene after the blaze erupted in the wooden-structured building, prompting a swift response from district authorities and fire services.

According to Nainital SDM Nawazish Khaliq, the administration received its first alert at 7:24 pm, after which emergency protocols were activated.

"Taking immediate cognisance, we activated the disaster control room. Fire-fighting was carried out here. With the efforts of everyone, this fire was brought under control within 1 hour and 10 minutes. There is no report of any casualty in this. Two people trapped were rescued in time," Khaliq said.

He added that Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami took prompt cognisance of the incident and monitored the situation via video call.

"CM has directed that fire tenders be kept stationed here even at night... We have informed him about the positive result as well," he added.

Chief Fire Officer Gaurav Kirar said the fire spread rapidly due to the building's wooden structure.