JOHOR BARU, Dec 22 — A late night fire razed to the ground two old empty shophouses along Jalan Wong Ah Fook in the city centre here yesterday, causing part of the busy road to be declared off-limits to motorists.
However, there were no casualties reported in the fire that was believed to have started at about 10.15pm.
A Johor Fire and Rescue Department spokesman said three teams from the Johor Baru fire station, led by the station’s chief and operations commander Mohd Suhaimi Jamal, were immediately deployed to the scene after they received a distress call at 10.36pm.
“Firemen took about 30 minutes to control the blaze, followed by another hour to fully extinguish the flames. The entire operation ended at 12.50am early this morning,” said the spokesman today.
Policemen from the Johor Baru South district police were also deployed to maintain traffic flow and crowd control as the area fronting the popular City Square Johor Baru shopping centre is known to be busy with shoppers on Thursday nights.
The spokesman said the two shophouses, measuring at 6.1 metres in width and 15.5 metres in length each, were completely destroyed during the blaze.
“The old shophouses consisted of part concrete and wood and is believed to have not been occupied for several months,” said the spokesman, adding that the Johor Fire and Rescue Department will conduct a thorough investigation on the cause of fire and estimated losses.
