Srinagar: At least ten residential houses and some shops were damaged in a devastating fire incident that erupted at Dangerpora area of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Friday, officials said.

A leading fireman identified as Arshed Ahmad Hurrah was also injured in the operation who has been hospitalized for treatment where his condition is stated to be stable.

The fire broke out at the heavily congested Dangerpora area in a house during the peak night hours around 2:58 am and engulfed nearby houses within no time, Joint Director Kashmir Region B A Shah told UNI.

About 10 houses, mostly upper stories, and some shops were damaged in the fire incident, he said.

He said initially fire tenders were rushed from the nearby Anantnag Lal Chowk station. However, after seeing the velocity of the fire more fire tenders were rushed from the Sarnal on K P road, Mattan, Bijbehara and Achabal stations to douse the leaping flames.

Shah said the fire spread like a "wild fire" in the congested area as there happened to be several Gas cylinder blasts during the fire fighting operation that caused the huge damage to the property.

He said “It could have been a major disaster and at least 200 horses of the Dangerpora area would have been gutted in the fire incident if water resources could not have been present from a living stream in the area”.

The official praised the fire fighters for their marvelous job who saved the human lives and property during the operation despite it was snowing at the time.

(With UNI inputs)