A major fire that broke out in a village in East Godawari district of Andhra Pradesh on Monday morning turned the entire village to ashes. More than 2000 people, all from fishermen community, were rendered homeless in the massive fire in Pallam village in Katrenikona mandal, 30 km from Amalapuram. Though there was no loss of life, the inferno had destroyed over 500 tatched huts in the village. The fire started around 7.15 am in one of the houses when a group of youths lit firecrackers at a function. The fire soon spread fast to other hutments.

The property loss was estimated at more than Rs 3 crore. The narrow approach road to the village hampered the firefighters from dousing the blaze quickly. Till evening, the fire raged in some of the hutments in the village. Revenue authorities said the property loss could be much higher as they had not done the stock taking as smoke continued to billow from several households till late in the evening.

Fire engines could not reach the village, which is surrounded by sea on three sides. "There was no way the fire engines could enter the village as the narrow road can provide passage to only small vehicle and autorickshaws. Fire engines could not cross the narrow passage by which time the raging fire engulfed the entire village," said a victim. "Our homes have been destroyed. Our little savings also were reduced to ashes. The government must help us out and build pucca houses," lamented yet another victim.

The village is politically active with both TDP and Congress having a strong presence. People tried to douse the fire with water and sand but it was of no avail as the flames aided by winds raged across the hutments in no time. "If the passage was wider, the fire officials would have minimized the loss of property," former minister Metla Satyanarayana, who visited the village, said. He demanded that the authorities build a pucca bridge and widen the road to improve connectivity to the village.