PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/ Nainital
With winter drawing to a close in Nainital, another British-era mansion was gutted by fire. Glenmore House, located in the city’s Saat Number area, which had been standing for nearly 150 years was reduced to ashes. Despite the Fire department personnel and locals battling for hours to douse the flame, the iconic building of the lake city could not be saved. Though the owner escaped as he happened to be outside, the fire is supposed to have caused losses to the tune of several crores of rupees.
To recall, a 72-year-old woman had died in a fire which had engulfed the Old London House in the Mallital area of Nainital on August 27, 2025. This was followed by another devastating blaze which gutted 15 rooms in a two-storey building at Mallital’s China Baba Square on December 9, 2025.
Since the time the British left, many people have been living in Glenmore House. Lalit Tiwari and his wife Chandra Tiwari have been living here for the last four decades. Both of them had been to Gurugram to meet their son. On Sunday afternoon at around 1:30 PM, they just came close to the house when the local residents informed them about the thick plume of smoke coming out of it. Lalit rushed in. When he opened the room where they live, flames were found rising inside. Meanwhile, seeing the smoke leaping in the area, a crowd of people gathered. They quickly took out beds, gas cylinders and some other household items kept inside, but due to the wind fanning the fire, it soon engulfed the whole mansion.
On receiving the information, the fire brigade along with the police and SDRF teams reached the spot. The fire brigade sprayed water on the fire from three fire tenders but by then the building had been reduced to ashes.
However, the spread of the blaze was checked, sparing buildings standing close to it.
The fire station in-charge, Devendra Singh Negi said that the fire had been checked in time and thus had saved other buildings. “The departmental team is busy assessing the damage. Besides, we are ascertaining the cause which triggered the blaze,” he added.
