TAWAU: 26 homes in Kampung Kurnia Jaya, Batu 4 Jalan Apas, were destroyed in a fire that reportedly occurred around 9.30am on Friday.
A motorcycle was also reported to have been destroyed, but the swift action of the fire department successfully prevented the fire from spreading to another 1,300 homes.
No fatalities were reported, as all residents managed to escape before the fire spread and destroyed their homes.
window.googletag = window.googletag || {cmd: []};googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.defineSlot('/22826383987/dailyexpress_inline', [1, 1], 'gpt-passback').addService(googletag.pubads());googletag.enableServices();googletag.display('gpt-passback');});The incident occurred less than a week after a similar fire at Kampung Cempaka, which is also located in the Batu 4 Jalan Apas area near Kampung Kurnia Jaya.
The fire on July 26 resulted in the destruction of five homes, damage to three others, and the demolition of two houses to prevent the fire from spreading.
In the recent incident at Kampung Kurnia Jaya, the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) Sabah received an emergency call via MERS999 at 9.37am.
The fire brigade team from the Tawau Fire and Rescue Station (BBP) was deployed to the scene and arrived at 9.48am to control and extinguish the fire.
The operation was led by Senior Fire Officer I Jehrey Ibno and involved 39 firefighters from the Tawau Fire and Rescue Station (BBP), assisted by seven members of the Kampung Titingan Community Fire Team.
Efforts to extinguish the fire were challenged by its rapid spread, as all the affected houses were constructed primarily from wooden materials.
The fire department implemented both offensive and defensive firefighting strategies in an effort to contain the fire and prevent it from spreading to nearby buildings.
A 300-foot single stream method was employed using one nozzle from a portable pump utilizing seawater as the source, along with two 200-foot dual streams supplied by water from the fire engine.
Their efforts were successful as the fire was fully contained by 10.14am and the operation concluded approximately one hour and 30 minutes later, after all potential hazards were addressed.
In addition to the fire department, the Royal Malaysia Police, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Malaysia Civil Defence Force, and Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd were also present at the scene.
