Fire breaks out at iconic Old London House in Nainital; noted historian's sister killed

A massive fire broke out in a heritage building here, leaving an elderly woman dead and reducing the British-era structure to ashes, police said on Thursday.

The blaze erupted in the Old London House building located in Mallital market around 9.45 pm on Wednesday and continued to rage till the early hours of Thursday, they said.

Nainital Senior Superintendent of Police PN Meena said the flames have been doused and the damage caused by the fire is being assessed.

The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.

The deceased was identified as 82-year-old Shanta Bisht. She was sister of Dr Ajay Rawat, a noted historian and an environmentalist.

She lived in the house with her son Nikhil Bisht, who has worked in several Bollywood movies, including "Barfi", as an art director before returning to Nainital to take care of his mother.

Nikhil himself escaped unharmed. He kept crying for help to save his mother until he fainted but it was too late.

A mobile shop owner first noticed smoke rising from the structure and informed authorities.

The fire brigade rushed to the spot immediately but the fire was so huge that it took hours to extinguish the flames.

Forty rescue personnel struggled for hours to douse the flames which could be controlled only after 2 am.

A fire tender rushed to the spot, but its water tank emptied quickly, forcing it to go back to refill.

“The flames were too high to be controlled easily. The locals also assisted the authorities in dousing the flames but couldn't do much,” Siddharth Sah, a local said.

The Old London House building was built in 1863, when Nainital was developed as the summer capital of the United Provinces, an administrative division of British India.

Shanta Bisht's younger sister Karnlata Rawat, a retired school principal had also died in a fire incident in 2020.

Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Nawazish Khalik said all city hydrants will be inspected by the fire department and water institute teams. The responsibility of the fire department will also be fixed, he said.