An inferno engulfed a Dalit settlement at Kanchanpur Municipality-6 in Saptari district on Thursday, killing an elderly person and destroying 79 houses belonging to 33 families. Twenty-eight other huts were demolished to stop the fire from spreading further. Sixty-year-old Chalitar Sardar was charred to death, said police. The fire broke out in the house belonging to Jhameli Sardar around noon. Flames fuelled by the wind burnt down the settlement in no time. Security personnel and local residents doused the fire in four hours after fire engines arrived from Rajbiraj, Inaruwa, and Itahari. The recently declared Kanchanrup Municipality does not have a fire truck. The victims are staying under the open sky. Chief District Officer Birendra Prasad Yadav, who inspected the site, said the local administration had urged Red Cross to provide tents at the earliest. They were given Rs1,500 per person and some dry foods as immediate relief.