Seda relates her ordeal at the scene of the fire.
The aftermath of the fire.
The house engulfed in flames.
MIRI: It was a close call for a 50-year-old mother and her teenage daughter after they narrowly escaped their burning house yesterday.
The duo, who share the rented double-storey house with 23 other tenants, were awakened by the noise as flames engulfed the rooms on the upper floor of the house.
The 11am blaze took place at Jalan Chawan 1 Kampung Riam Jaya.
“We ran for our lives,” said Seda Bunya when met by The Borneo Post at the scene of the fire.
Seda related that she was relaxing inside her room that morning when suddenly she heard her 15-year-old daughter screaming from outside.
“I could hear her yelling ‘fire, fire’ multiple times,” she explained.
They managed to salvage some important documents before fleeing the burning house.
Earlier on, Seda said she did hear some loud noise coming
from a room upstairs, but could not figure out what the noise was until she heard her daughter scream.
The fire completely gutted the house, which had eight rooms, and has rendered the eight families living there homeless.
Fortunately, no injuries were reported in the incident, as the other tenants had gone to the city centre that morning.
However, they immediately rushed back home upon receiving news about the incident.
They managed to salvage several items from the house before the blaze intensified.
Most of the tenants of the house are working at a nearby construction site.
Two fire brigades from Miri and Lopeng fire stations led by deputy fire superintendent Ali Bema and Zone 6 fire chief Law Poh Kiong arrived at the scene to tackle the blaze, bringing the fire under control in half an hour.
The actual cause of the fire and estimated losses has yet to be determined as an investigation is currently underway.