KOTA KINABALU: Three units of shop houses at Mile 7, of Menggatal – Inanam old road were destroyed by fire yesterday.
The fire was said to have started at one of the units of the three-storey shop houses before spreading to the adjoining units.
It was learnt that the fire had started from a stationery store on the ground floor and had spread to the other units which housed a workshop and a drinks processing shop.
Lintas Fire and Rescue Services Department’s public relations officer Mohamad Nor Amit said that they received a distress call about the incident at 1.47pm and five fire engines with 35 personnel from the Lintas, Sembulan and Kota Kinabalu were dispatched to the scene.
“The fire was put out two hours later,” he said adding that the firefighters faced the difficulty of insufficient water supply from the fire hydrant because of an on-going upgrading works carried out by the Water Department.
“The cause of the fire and total loss incurred are still being investigated,” Mohamad Nor said.
Meanwhile, the owner of one of the units, Wong Fon Min, 41, said that he was at home when he was contacted by his worker about the incident.
“We did not manage to save all our belongings including the equipment to process soya bean and sugarcane drinks,” he said.