Panic gripped the residents of Primeiro Vaddo, Velsao, on Sunday after a major fire broke out in the ancestral house of Dr Sanjay Coelho. As the blaze was being tackled, miscreants exploited the chaos to burgle another section of the house, resulting in the theft of valuable items.
Francisco Braganza, a Velsao-Pale-Issorcim panchayat member, alerted the Verna Fire Brigade, while Goa Pradesh Congress Committee treasurer Orville Dourado Rodrigues and his resort staff also responded immediately, using portable fire equipment to help control the fire with the assistance of villagers who managed in preventing the inferno from spreading further.
However, the response from the Verna Fire Station was significantly delayed as the fire personnel could not reach the site directly because of incomplete construction work by the Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), which had demolished an age-old culvert—a right of way used by locals since 1890. This forced the fire tender to take a 45-minute detour, severely hindering fire-fighting operations.
The fire caused considerable damage, destroying a section of the heritage roof and priceless antique furniture.
Dr Coelho, distraught over the incident, held the South Western Railway (SWR) and RVNL responsible.
He recalled that his earlier complaint to the Verna Police regarding mud dumped outside his house by the same authorities had been ignored.
Dr Coelho expressed his deep gratitude to the villagers and, in particular, to Rodrigues for saving a large portion of his home.
In a shocking turn, the Coelho family later discovered that while the fire was active, miscreants had broken into another section of the residence. Several valuable items were found missing. On receiving information, the Verna Police rushed to the scene and conducted the panchanama.
In the wake of the incident, Rodrigues has called on police to conduct an immediate tenant verification drive.
He emphasized that such a measure was necessary to identify and remove anti-social elements from the village, which has a large population of senior citizens.
A fire broke out in the St Lawrence Church in Sinquerim while the three resident priests were getting ready for the first mass at around 5.30 am on Sunday.
The fire, which is suspected to have been caused due to short-circuit, spread rapidly and completely destroyed one room and partially gutted four others including a kitchen and the roof beams. Antiques and old documents of the Fabrica office were also burnt. Fortunately no one was injured.
Sharing details of the incident, Fr Lester Cardozo, the Sinquerim parish priest said, “This morning an unfortunate incident took place at 5.30 am, a fire started in one of the rooms. Luckily Fr Tony who stays there, was not in the room; he was praying in the church. The fire spread to four other rooms and when we saw it, the same was uncontrollable. We tried calling the fire brigade, but there was no range.”
Fr Lester said, “We went out and contacted the Fabrica members and the fire brigade arrived at about 6.30am and extinguished the fire. The fire started because of a short-circuit. For many years the wiring was not changed.”
Despite the fire, the priests held the Sunday morning mass.
“We don't know if the roof will collapse. We will not stay in the rooms as of now for our safety,” he said.
Besides Fr Cardozo, Fr Tony Barros, Fr Franky Fernandes and a caretaker were present in the church when the fire broke out.
Fabrica president Paul Silveira said, “The fire brigade took around 45 minutes to arrive because they were in Calangute attending to another fire. The fire fighting operation was mostly put out by 9.30am. The roof is extensively damaged. The loss will be known only after a proper assessment by competent authorities.”
Calangute MLA Michael Lobo said, “The chief minister will provide financial assistance from the chief minister's relief fund. The main beam of the church, the rooms and many antiques are burnt. Major repairs will be needed and I've asked the chief minister to provide assistance apart from others who will be willing to help.”
A devastating fire in Maddawaddo, Calangute, completely destroyed a storage shed belonging to local beach shack owner and fisherman, Cruz Fernandes in the wee hours of Sunday.
The blaze, which Fernandes suspects was deliberately set, erupted between 2 am and 2.30 am and destroyed all of his beach shack furniture, a wooden canoe, and fishing gear.
“Everything is gone. It’s obvious that somebody started the fire deliberately out of jealousy.
Some people are saying it must have started because of a lit cigarette bud. I haven’t seen how it started, but the way the fire started and spread, it couldn’t have started with a cigarette bud,” he said.
Fernandes said, “I had stored my beach shack items including furniture, wooden canoe and fishing equipment in the shed, all of which was completely reduced to ashes by the time a fire services team reached the spot at around 6am. The loss is yet to be estimated but is “more than Rs 10 lakh.”
“The fire started around 2-2.30am when we were sleeping. Somebody came to tell me of the fire at about 5 am. When I reached here everything was burnt. All my shack equipment, fishing boat and nets with which I catch fish, everything is gone. Now the new season is starting and I don’t have anything for the shack and for fishing too,” he said.
A fire tender from Pilerne fire station rushed to the spot and carried out dousing operations at around 6 am.
Awareness is the key to preventing fire disasters, says Expert
Fire expert and former Fire and Emergency Services (FES) officer Hemant Chodankar said, “Since they have occurred in residential areas, the reason could have been either human error or electrical issues with combustible material stored in the premises. As far as the shack is concerned, there are issues with housekeeping. If things are not stored properly, then even a small spark is enough to burn down the full area.”
“There is a need to have an awareness campaign, especially for the shack owners to prevent fire incidents,” Chodankar said.
”It has been observed that during off season the shack operators dump things without proper care and fire fighting systems are not properly installed. Moreover shacks are located at such a place where wind speed is higher which plays an important role,” he said.
In a shocking turn, the Coelho family later discovered that while the fire was active, miscreants had broken into another section of the residence. Several valuable items were found missing. On receiving information, the Verna Police rushed to the scene and conduct-ed the panchanama.
In the wake of the incident, Rodrigues has called on police to conduct an immediate tenant verification drive.
He emphasized that such a measure was necessary to identify and remove anti-social elements from the village, which has a large population of senior citizens.