Ara: Goods worth Rs20 lakh were destroyed in a fire that broke out late on Sunday night at a popular home furnishing shop located on Jail Road under Town police station area of Ara.Spark emitted by firecrackers burst by a passing wedding procession is said to have caused the fire.Four fire tenders were pressed into service, which, after great efforts by the firemen and the locals, doused the flames.The owner of the shop, Deepak Kumar, said: “At about 8.45pm, I was informed that a fire engulfed my shop. All the stocks of bedsheets, blankets, pillows, and other home furnishing items were reduced to ashes.”A fire brigade personnel, Uday Shankar Yadav, who was engaged in dousing the flames, said: “The upper storey of the shop first caught fire. Thankfully, the fire was extinguished before it could engulf the lower part of the shop.”CPI(ML) leader and former ward councillor, Amit Kumar Gupta, who rushed to the spot, said: “It is a 30-year-old popular home furnishing shop of Ara. The shopowner incurred heavy losses. The administration should provide him adequate compensation as per the provisions of the law.”
