SIBU: A raging inferno destroyed a Sungai Sadit sawmill yesterday with total loss estimated at over RM5 million.
A sawmill worker watches the fire from the main road. Piles of belongings can be seen by the roadside.
Sawmill workers watch the fire from a distance.
Firefighters work to contain the flames.
According to the owner, high quality sawn timber ready for export to Japan and Korea worth RM1 million went up in smoke.
More than 150 sawmill workers and their families were also made homeless in the fire, which started around 1.30am.
It turned the night sky red over the west bank of Sibu.
A night watchman first spotted flames rising from the plant’s mid-section, which housed the administration office.
He called on six workers and they tried to put out the fire by themselves.
However, within minutes, they realised it was a futile effort and alerted workers in the quarters.
Although the workers tried to salvage their belongings, they could not save much as the flames spread too quickly.
All they could do was watch helplessly as firefighters in three fire engines fought the inferno until daybreak backed by Civil Defence Department personnel, who came in another fire engine.
Firefighters were later stationed at the site for 24 hours to ensure the fire did not rekindle.
Razed to the ground were the processing plants, four rows of workers’ quarters and two sawn timber stores, along with over 30 machines, including heavy machinery and other mill equipment.
More than 100 mostly foreign sawmill workers also lost their passports.
The Fire and Rescue Department is investigating the cause of the fire.
Built two decades ago, the mill on a 15-acre site was one of the biggest here.