A HOUSE ON FIRE

     It was past midnight. I was studying hard for the forthcoming examination. Suddenly I heard the frightful cries of Fire Fire. I ran out to the balcony of my house. I saw that a house at the end of our street was on fire.

     I hastily dressed and rushed to the scne of the fire. People from all directions were rushing to the house. Soon a big crowd gathered there.

     Within minutes a number of fire engines arrived accompanied by the loud ringing of the bells. Steel helmeted firemen leapt out from the engines. They quickly joined their hose pipes to the nearby water hydrants and started shooting of water at the leaping tongues of fire.

     Heart- rending shrieks and pitiable cries of the residents trapped in the house filled the air. Children were yelling. Women were wailing, men were shouting. Some of the firemen battled with the flames. Others started rescue operations. Some entered the building through the main gate. Others put up tall ladders against the windows and balconies to help the inmates out. Children, women and men were brought out by turn. A fireman risked his life and brought out a girl trapped on the second floor. Seizing the girl in his arms he jumped on to a net held out by other firemen.

     Soon the police arrived. They cordoned off the area around the burning house and dispersed the obstructing crowd.

     By now, volunteers of the Red Cross and Home Guards had arrived. Those who had received burns or other injuries were rushed to the nearby hospital. The homeless residents were provided with temporary shelter in a nearby school building. People in the neighborhood rushed to their help with tea and refreshment. Policemen were posted to guard the belongings still left in the gutted house.

     After four hours of heroic efforts the brave firemen succeeded vin putting the fire out. Fortunately there was no loss of life.

     It was almost daybreak when I reached home. I narrated the awful incident to the members of my family. That night I could hardly sleep. The scene of the leaping flames, the acrid smell of smoke and the pitiful shrieks of the trapped people still lingered in my memory.