Handout photo shows the fire gutting the middle section of the longhouse.
MIRI (July 10): Immediate relief assistance will be rendered to the victims affected by the recent fire in Kampung Long Wat, Tutoh in Ulu Baram, Telang Usan assemblyman Dennis Ngau assured.
Dennis, who visited the victims yesterday, said he was informed by the villagers that the fire broke out at the 98-door longhouse on Saturday night.
A total of 27 units located in the middle section of the longhouse were razed, he said, adding that this village settlement of over 100 years belonged to the Kayan and Kenyah.
“There were no reports of casualties because most of the victims were not in the village. At the time of the incident, the village was already inundated with flood water.
“The villagers had to pump river water to extinguish the fire. If not, the entire 98-door longhouse would be completely destroyed by the fire,” he said.
For the record, the Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) had only received the emergency call at 1.33am yesterday, partly due to poor telecommunication coverage in the remote area.
Adding on, Dennis said that he had spoken to two community chiefs of the village to set up a committee to provide disaster recovery and support rebuilding efforts.
“I have asked them to form the committee quickly and seek approval from the district officer (DO), as well as to submit a request through DO to apply for the RM70,000 state government’s grant per door to rebuild the affected longhouse,” he added.
Meanwhile, in a statement earlier, Fire and Rescue Department Miri chief Awangku Mohd Hazmin Awang Zainal said the quick action by the villagers prevented the fire from spreading to other parts of the longhouse.
“They managed to put out the fire using water pumped from the nearby river,” he said.
Awangku Mohd Hazmin said it took Bomba from the Marudi fire station some five hours to the scene as they had to travel along the logging road.
“At around 2.30am, however, we received information that the villagers had extinguished the fire,” he added.
The cause of the fire and losses suffered by the longhouse folk have yet to be ascertained.