KUCHING: Seven residents of two-storey house including a one-year-old toddler in Jalan Sungai Apong Baru here were left with nothing but the shirts on their backs after their house were destroyed in an evening fire yesterday.
Tabuan Jaya fire station chief Faizal Saari said the department received the distress call of the incident at 3.37pm.
He said the despatched team arrived at the scene to find only one house, which was half-concrete, half wood, to be 85 per cent damaged.
Two fire engines were deployed, including one each from Tabuan Jaya and Padungan.
“We managed to bring the fire under control within 20 minutes and extinguished the blaze shortly after,” he said, adding that they were able to prevent the fire from spreading to the adjacent houses.
However, no injuries or casualties were reported and the actual cause of the fire and the victims’ losses are still being ascertained.
Meanwhile, the victim Ana Materang, 30, said during the incident she and her husband together with four of their children were at her in-law’s house situated nearby, while her eldest child was out with friends.
She received a call from her relatives about the fire incident that started from upstairs.
“Panicked, I ran back home and the fire was already at its peak and nothing could be salvaged,” she said.
According to her, the household comprised of four males and three females aged between one and 35.
Also present at the scene was state Bomba senior commander Suku Lajung.
