Massive fire breaks out near Shimla’s Boileauganj mental hospital; 1,000 sq ft area affected

SHIMLA: A massive fire broke out near the government mental hospital in Boileauganj on Thursday morning, engulfing around 1000 sq ft of land, officials said.

Boileauganj Fire Officer Ramesh Kumar Sharma said the department received information about the blaze around 10.43 am. Sharma said, “We got the information at around 10.43 am. The fire had spread around 1,000 sqft of land. We are facing problems as the fire is massive. We are cleaning the route of the fire line to avoid it spreading any faster. We are trying to douse the fire. Let us see how much more time it will take”.

#WATCH | Shimla, Himachal Pradesh | Forest fire hits mental hospital area and British era graveyard near Boileauganj in Shimla. pic.twitter.com/29r6ivhz4i

— ANI (@ANI) May 28, 2026

Local resident Narendra Kumar said the fire broke out near the government mental hospital and a dog house in the area. Kumar said, “There is a government mental hospital near Boileauganj which caught fire long with the dog house nearby. When I came from the village, there was a massive fire. There was a Fire Department and Forest Department at the scene, who doused the fire along with local people. Trees caught fire, and there were also houses in the village.”

#WATCH | Shimla, Himachal Pradesh | One of the locals, Narendra Kumar, says, “There is a government mental hospital near Boileauganj which caught fire long with the dog house nearby… When I came from the village, there was a massive fire. There was a Fire Department and Forest… pic.twitter.com/mjyMuYIAwx

— ANI (@ANI) May 28, 2026

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, a massive forest fire that raged for more than 27 hours in the Kasauli Beat area of Solan district was brought under control following a joint operation by ground teams and the Indian Air Force (IAF). According to the State Forest Department, the blaze broke out around 1 pm on May 26 and spread across nearly 10 hectares of forest land. Officials classified the incident as a ground fire. The exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.

The firefighting operation was carried out under the state’s Incident Response System with coordinated efforts from multiple agencies. Nine personnel from the State Forest Department were deployed to contain the flames in the difficult terrain. Aerial support from the IAF was pressed into service to assist ground teams in dousing the fire, officials said.

Four Mi-17 V5 helicopters carried out more than 150 sorties over affected zones, dropping 62,500 litres of water to contain the blaze. The fire had threatened military installations and residential areas in Kasauli. IAF pilots were drawing water from Sukhna Lake using Bambi buckets, with each sortie carrying 2,000 to 2,500 litres.

Operations have continued day and night, with helicopters conducting NVG-aided night sorties to support firefighting efforts. Officials said the IAF’s intervention has succeeded in extinguishing and controlling the fire. The operation reflects close coordination between the local administration and the IAF under the aid to civil authorities.

Efforts to prevent further spread and protect forests, lives and property were still underway, IAF officials added. The challenging mountainous terrain, characterised by steep slopes and strong, unpredictable winds, made ground access difficult for local forest fire crews.

While the state has incurred an estimated financial loss of approximately Rs 67 lakh, officials noted that these figures are preliminary and may be adjusted as the forest naturally regenerates post-monsoon. (ANI)