Spike in Winter Fire Incidents in Shimla, Kullu and Kinnaur

Winters have set in Himachal, and the usual rush to stock up on the essentials, warm clothing, and firewood, comes the threat of winter fires. Each year, magnificent wooden homes, heritage bungalows, ancient temples, and old Kath-Kuni buildings are reduced to ashes, often within minutes.

Beginning this week, a major fire gutted a centuries-old deity temple, built in the traditional hill architecture, at the village Dadheri in the Manikaran area of Kullu district, engulfing two houses when the families were asleep around midnight. However, no human loss was reported.

Earlier last month, a massive fire at village Jhaniyar in Banjar subdivision (Kullu) had destroyed 16 structures, including houses and two temples, leaving families homeless.

In Shimla town, a fire broke out at Dimple Lodge, a 135-year-old wooden building in Chhota Shimla, reducing the two -storey building to ashes.

On the intervening night of 12 and 13 October 2025, a major fire broke out in the newly constructed Jahru Nag Temple, at village Shaneri near Rampur (Shimla), reducing the temple to ashes. The locals had nearly Rs 2.5 cr in their conservation work, engaging some of the best traditional artisans.

In February this year, a 300-year-old three-storey wooden house with 15 rooms in the village of Kadharan, 70 km from Shimla, also got completely gutted in a fire.

Balbir Thakur, a retired IAS officer, recalled that the heritage property was built by his ancestors using wood and stones and was one of the shining pieces of architecture in the entire area. "We are the property's fourth-generation owners," he recalled.

A major fire wiped out an entire village in Kullu this January, leaving 17 families homeless. The districts of Kinnaur and snow-bound Lahaul-Spiti are also experiencing a pattern of fires earlier in the winter season. 

The pattern of the fires in the winter months is almost similar, though the cause of the fires could be attributed to the use of heating devices, short-circuiting, lack of fire safety measures and negligence. But most buildings are made of wood and local materials, which are unprotected from the fires, so they are very vulnerable.

The fire officials confirm that since October this year alone, more than 50 major fire incidents have been reported in the state, causing loss to the tune of crores and rendering many homeless and in distress. Shimla district alone has reported 11 fire incidents.

This year’s incidents, say environmental activists, are related to an unusual dry spell, rather prolonged rain deficit, since heavy monsoons and night temperatures are dropping quite low, forcing the families to use heating devices inside homes.

Shimla’s Deputy Commissioner, Anupam Kashyap, said he had already circulated an advisory to all sub-divisional magistrates and district officials, informing them of precautions to be taken to avoid fire accidents, both in offices and residential houses. “The electric heating devices should not be left unattended. Sometimes, using more than one heating device can cause an electrical short circuit. "The wooden buildings can catch fire at any moment," he says.

Sometimes in the villages, the houses and shops are built close to each other and in a cluster. If the fire breaks out in one corner, it could easily engulf the entire village, where the fire tenders can’t reach due to a lack of connectivity, limited access, and narrow and steep roads. Availability of water storage in the vicinity is another issue.

“Dry forests nearby—pine-needle Forest litter, dry leaves, fuel-wood, and dry fodder stored near the houses or even in the outhouses attached to the main buildings, are also other threats,” says Mohan Lal Brakta, MLA from Rohru

The fire at Jubbal-Kotkhi last month not only destroyed the multi-storey traditional Kath-kuni house built by the family investing their entire income, but also consumed cash, jewellery, food grains, and winter stock. The family was rendered homeless and shelterless ahead of winter, left with only the clothes they were wearing.

Dr S.S. Randhawa, a former principal scientist at the HP State Council of Science, Technology, and Environment, recalls that the winter fires have wiped out some of the heritage and old wooden houses, even many hill villages, during the past few years, also resulting in deaths.

“There is an urgent need to strengthen fire-safety awareness, enforce stricter regulations, retrofit ageing structures, and ensure reliable firefighting infrastructure even in remote hamlets. Old and faulty electrical wiring often becomes a hidden hazard, especially when heating devices are left unattended or overused,” he observes.

In 2021, seventeen houses were destroyed and three partially damaged when a major fire broke out in the ancient and remote village of Malana in the Kullu around midnight. Malana is also known for its ancient civilisation and has no connectivity beyond Manikaran Valley.