MATU (Sarawak), Oct 8 — A fire destroyed 12 houses in the Melanau settlement of Kampung Tian, Matu, in the Mukah Division early today, and left 37 people homeless.
No one was injured in the fire which occurred at 1.50am, said Mukah Fire and Rescue Station chief of operations, Senior Fire Officer 1 Abdul Rashid Murni.
He said four other houses were damaged by the fire.
“When we arrived at the scene, nine houses had been destroyed. Three more houses were destroyed as we fought to control the fire. The absence of fire hydrants in the village forced us to draw water from a river to fight the fire,” he said when contacted by Bernama.
Abdul Rashid said the village was located more than 100 kilometres from the fire station and firemen had to cross a river by ferry to get to the location.
“The fire was put out at 7.40am,” he said, adding that it was learnt that the fire started from the kitchen of one of the houses that was destroyed.
However, the actual cause of the fire would only be known after an investigation, he said, adding that Department of Civil Defence personnel from Daro also helped to fight the fire. — Bernama
