180 left homeless as fire destroys 45 houses in Tawau

TAWAU: As many as 180 people were made homeless when a fire destroyed 45 houses in Kampung Tanjung Batu Laut Logpond water village on Wednesday (March 6) afternoon.

Tawau Fire and Rescue Station chief Jemishin Ujin said the estimated area of the fire involved 9,000 square metres.

“We received a distress call at 2.31pm and 44 firemen along with a machine rushed to the incident site located 4.1km from the station.

“The fire-fighting operation was carried out with three jet streams (hoses) using water sources from fire engines, fire hydrants and seawater,” he said in a statement here on Wednesday.

He added that no deaths were reported in the incident which left 180 people homeless.

He said the fire was brought under control at 4.31pm and the cause of the incident and losses incurred were still under investigation.

“This village has about 300 houses and even though the fire was successfully brought under control, the fire department is still monitoring the situation as a precaution,” he said.

One of the victims, Farida Amir, 42, could only watch helplessly as the house she inherited from her family was destroyed in the fire.

Farida said that she did not expect to lose the family house and be left with nothing just before Ramadan.

“I knew there was a fire in the village from a colleague, after that, I immediately called my son, and he told me that the fire was getting closer to our house.

“I rushed back to the house but when I got there the house was engulfed in flames.

“All family members are safe, but our belongings, including personal documents, are destroyed,” said the sawmill worker here on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Tawau police would monitor any attempts of irresponsible parties who try to take advantage of the situation by stealing or committing other crimes in the village following the fire incident.

Tawau district deputy police chief Supt Champin Piuh said that strict monitoring is being carried out due to the large number of houses involved in the incident.

“The victims are advised to look after their personal and valuable items as well as important documents so that they are not lost or dropped as well as their own safety when they are placed in the temporary relief centre later,” he said when met by reporters at the scene here on Wednesday night.

Champin also advised the public who want to channel aid to the victims to use the correct channel, which was through the district disaster management committee so that the distribution could be done transparently and fairly. – BK