Five houses were gutted in a fire at Hatil Gariyakanth of Joypurhat pourashava area on Tuesday.

The fire originated from an electric short circuit at a house around 5:45am and soon engulfed the adjacent houses. As a result, five houses, cows, paddy and furniture were completely gutted, Deputy Officer of Joypurhat Fire Service and Civil Defense Krishna Prasad said.

Being informed, three units of Fire Service and Civil Defense rushed to the spot and doused the blaze with the help of locals after one-hour efforts, he added.

It is initially estimated to have caused a loss of about Taka 10 lakh, the affected house owners claimed.