Shops, houses and warehouse razed in pre-dawn fire

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KUCHING: Two motorcycle repair-cum-sales shops were gutted along with two squatter houses and a warehouse during a pre-dawn fire at Kota Sentosa yesterday.

The fire at its height.

Firemen checking one of the gutted motorcycle shops.

Several of the hundreds of motorcycles lost in the fire.

The aftermath of the fire.

No injuries were reported in the 5am incident, which resulted in an estimated loss of more than RM600,000.

The fire is believed to have started at one of the two motorcycle shops before spreading to the warehouse and two wooden houses located on an adjacent plot of land.

One of the owners of the affected houses, who gave her name as Fan, said she woke up around 5am after hearing ‘crackling’ sounds and looked out her window to see flames shooting out from one of the motorcycle shops.

She said she quickly woke up her younger brother as well as her daughter and hurried to safety as the flames spread to her house and another house belonging to a family-of-three, who were also escaping to safety at that same moment.

None of the two families could save any of their belongings and could only watch helplessly as their homes were engulfed in a matter of minutes.

It is learned that the two motorcycle shops collectively contained hundreds of motorcycles which comprised new units as well as those sent for repair by customers.

The warehouse, meanwhile, was said to contain stock, mostly soft drinks.

Kuching fire chief Tiong Ling Hii said that 21 personnel from the Batu Lintang, Tabuan Jaya and Padungan stations were despatched to the scene following a distress call received at 5.08am.

The fire, he said, spread rapidly because all the affected structures were made of wood.

“The situation was brought under control at 6.09am and we faced no problem with the water pressure in the area,” said Tiong, adding he did not receive any reports of injury.

Although the owner of one of the motorcycle shops claimed to have suffered losses of RM5 million, Tiong disclosed that initial statements gathered from the victims regarding their losses put the overall figure at over RM600,000.

Meanwhile, Padawan Municipal Council chairman Lo Khere Chiang, who arrived at the scene after being notified of the incident, said his side would provide aid to those affected, and advised them to seek assistance from the Welfare Department.

“I already referred them (victims) to Jabatan Kebajikan (Welfare Department) and I have also called the department to assist them,” he told reporters.

Kota Sentosa assemblyman Chong Chieng Jen was also present at the scene to survey the devastation and speak to the victims.