FIRE FIGHTING: Firemen attempting to douse the fire.
SARIKEI: Over 100 people were made homeless after 28 units of a 30-door longhouse, Rumah Jawa Derahman, about 45 km from here was razed in a fire around noon yesterday.
District Fire and Rescue Services (Bomba) chief, Ranger Moos when contacted said that they received a distress call from the longhouse folk around 12.10pm and immediately rushed 13 firemen in an engine and van to the scene.
When they arrived at the semi-concrete longhouse in about 30 minutes, the fire which was believed to have started from an end unit had already spread to another 27 units, he said,
adding they were then left to struggle to save the remaining two units.
“With water pumped from a fish pond about 1,000 metres from the longhouse, we managed to douse the fire in about 15 minutes and put the flame under control by 1.05 pm,” he stated, adding, they were assisted by the longhouse folks in the operation.
They had yet to determine the cause of the fire as investigation by his men and the police is still ongoing, Ranger said, who also disclosed that the police had detained a 16-year old boy from the same longhouse to assist in the investigation.
Nevertheless, he was relieved that no casualties were reported in the incident.