Fire sparks safety concern over discarded tyres

0

KOTA KINABALU: A fire that destroyed a pile of discarded tyres on the hillside next to SMK Taman Ria, behind the old Road Transport Department building in Jalan Tuaran yesterday, has sparked safety concern.

According to a manufacturer whose factory is located near the site, the almost uncontrollable huge fire near the school showed that the tyres pose a serious safety risk to the students and his factory.

“It was very lucky that no one was at the school when the fire broke out or else it would not just cause property damage but also harm to the students,” said Ethan Tan.

Tan said the fire was big and one could see the huge plume of black smoke from afar.

He said since his manufacturing facilities are running on LPG, such incident could easily cause a disaster.

He therefore hoped the Department of Environment would clamp down on irresponsible used tyre operators who discarded unwanted tyres indiscriminately.

“We had previously complained to the district council and bomba (Fire and Rescue Department) but no action was taken to prevent this from happening. Now this is proof that things can happen,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Fire and Rescue Department operation centre, when contacted yesterday, said the department sent 50 personnel in seven fire engines from Sembulan, Lintas, Penampang and Tuaran to the scene after receiving a call at 1pm.

The Civil Defence Department and navy firefighters also came to help control the fire.

No casualties were reported in the incident and the cause was yet to be determined.