BIRATNAGAR: A fire that broke out in a Musahar settlement in Morang on Wednesday afternoon has left 55 people from 11 families homeless, destroying their huts, food, and savings within minutes. The blaze erupted around 2 PM on March 18 at Gokuwa Chowk in Budhiganga Rural Municipality 3, wiping out the entire cluster of fragile homes.

For 65-year-old Nirmala Rishidev, Friday, was supposed to be the day to pay her cooperative installment. She had carefully saved Rs 5,000. A 20 kg sack of rice, bought from her husband’s hard-earned wages, had just been stored in the kitchen. Within moments, everything was gone.

“The house burned right before our eyes; we couldn’t take anything out,” said Nirmala, breaking down at a corner of Janata Basic School, where the displaced families have taken shelter. “The Rs 5,000 I had saved for the installment burned, and the rice was gone too. How will we pass the night now? What will we eat?”

The settlement, built on unregistered land, now has neither remnants of homes nor a single grain of food left. All 11 huts were reduced to ashes. Survivors are currently sheltering on the cold floor of the nearby school.

The fire spread rapidly through huts made of bamboo strips and corrugated sheets, fueled further by strong winds. Gas cylinders inside homes exploded one after another, intensifying the blaze and leaving residents with no chance to retrieve their belongings. Within 45 minutes, the entire settlement had been destroyed. Fire engines from Biratnagar and Sunsari arrived and doused the flames after about an hour, but by then, nothing remained.

“Everything had already turned to ashes,” said Laxmi Devi Rishidev.

The loss is equally devastating for Sushila Rishidev, who had spent a year working in others’ fields to collect a small stock of paddy and clothes. “We didn’t even realize how the fire started; it spread from one house to another and finished everything,” said Sushila. “There isn’t a grain left to feed the children; only the clothes we were wearing survived.”

For the Musahar community, to which the victims belong, the disaster has deepened an already fragile existence. The community is among the most marginalized in Nepal, largely landless and dependent on daily wage labor. With their huts gone, families now find themselves under open skies, having also lost whatever little savings, jewelry, and essentials they had managed to accumulate.

Inside the school hall, Rekha Rishidev sits clutching an infant, worried about feeding her family of nine. Nearby, Uttam Rishidev, whose family of 6 faces the same uncertainty, shares similar fears about survival in the days ahead.

Relief clothing was provided to the fire-affected families by the Budhiganga Rural Municipality

Police said the houses of Soni Rishidev, Prakash Rishidev, Uttam Rishidev, Uma Rishidev, Sunil Rishidev, Rajkumar Rishidev, Gemu Rishidev, Chaita Rishidev, Kamlesh Rishidev, Ramdev Rishidev, and Tilku Rishidev were completely destroyed. Preliminary investigations suggest the fire may have started during cooking amid windy conditions.

“The fire suddenly started from Soni Rishidev’s house around 2 PM and spread across the settlement within moments,” said DSP Lila Raj Lamsal, spokesperson for the District Police Office, Morang. “Gas cylinders inside some houses exploded, which made the fire more intense, and it took about 45 minutes to bring it under control.”

Police teams from the District Police Office and Area Police Office, Hattimuda, along with two fire engines from Biratnagar Metropolitan City, were deployed to control the fire. Initial estimates put the total damage at around Rs 11.7 million, including losses of houses, food, clothing, and utensils.

Local authorities have begun relief efforts. According to Budhiganga Rural Municipality Chair Jeet Narayan Thapa Magar, victims have been provided food, bedsheets, mosquito nets, and tarpaulins for immediate support. “We are preparing to hold an executive meeting to decide on further assistance and rehabilitation,” said Magar.

Families displaced by the fire seeking shelter inside Janata Basic School