Kundasang: A total of 17 shops, homestays, rental houses and a non-permanent retail storage warehouse were destroyed in a fire that occurred here on Thursday evening.
Head of Ranau BBP Station PPgB Ridwan bin Mohd Taib said three shops, two homestays, 11 rental houses and a storage warehouse were razed at about 8.30pm in Kundasang township area.
“We received a call about the incident at 8.37pm via the MERS999 Line and a team of 15 firefighters led by Operation Commander PBK II Juanie@ Girin Bin Dullah and myself rushed to the scene.
Also involved in the operation were seven police, seven APM and two SE personnel.
“Arriving at the location situated 18km from the fire station, we found that there was a massive fire involving a row of various types of business premises,” he said.
He said the extinguishing operation used two 900-foot streams, three sprinklers and auxiliary pipes connected to water sources from CFRT and FRV machinery and fire hydrants.
Ridwan said no one was hurt in the incident, while the cause of the fire as well as estimated losses are still under investigation.
He said the operation was put under control at about 10.09pm and ended at 12.52am.
He reiterated the call towards the public to be more cautious of fire incidents especially during the current unpredictable weather condition.
“The public needs to prioritise safety first because fire in the open area could easily become uncontrollable and could turn disastrous with the risk of losing valuable assets, homes and even lives.
“If there is any open burning that cannot be avoided, it must be monitored and controlled, in order to prevent the spread of fire to nearby areas,” he said.
In RANAU, a house and three business premises were razed at Kg Tomis Jaya Ranau at about 9.30am on Saturday.
“We received a call via the Station Line at 9.35am and a group of six Firefighters led by Operations Commander, PBK II Wasli bin Saupin rushed to the location.
“Located 30km from the station, we found a fire involving a house, a grocery store, a restaurant and a vegetable stall.
“At that time all structures were 100 per cent burnt. The fire brigade acted to extinguish the embers of the fire using a 200-foot stream and two water jets from a nearby machinery tank and gravity water pipe.
No casualties were reported. The estimated losses and cause of the fire are still under investigation.
Ridwan said any fire emergency or special services could contact Bomba Ranau at 24 hours (088-878779), hotline at 019-2449348 or dial 999.
