GAIGHAT: Property worth around Rs 1.7 million were destroyed in a fire that burnt five houses in Rautamai Rural Municipality-1 of Udayapur district on Monday.

The fire that started from the house belonging to local Rana Bahadur BK caught on and spread to four other houses in the neighborhood gutting them in the process, according to the District Police Office (DPO), Udayapur.

Police after preliminary investigation assumed that the fire started by children to avoid cold caught on to the straw-thatched roof of BK's house causing the incident.

Police with the help of locals doused the fire after one and a half hours of collective effort.

The fire gutted property worth around Rs 320,000 of Rana Bahadur BK and Karna Bahadur BK each, Rs 360,000 of Megh Bahadur BK, Rs 370,000 of Chakra Bahadur BK and Parshu Ram BK, informed the Udayapur DPO.

Police, however, reported no human casualties in the incident.

Meanwhile, further investigation into the case is underway, said police.