TAWAU: Some 215 people were left homeless when fire swept through the Kampung Sri Aman water village destroying 30 houses on Saturday night.
The 11.20pm blaze consumed structures across a 1.37-acre area in what has been recorded as the largest single fire incident in Tawau this year.
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Tawau Fire and Rescue Station Chief Jemishin Ujin said firefighters faced challenges battling the flames as they had to rely on open water sources from the sea.
“During this operation, some 300 houses located near the incident site were saved from being destroyed and no casualties were reported,” he said.
Jemishin said the emergency call was received at 11.23pm and 17 firefighters were immediately dispatched, arriving 10 minutes later.
The Tawau Fire and Rescue team was reinforced by six personnel from the Kunak station and another six members from the Kampung Titingan Community Fire Brigade.
“Our operation also received assistance from the police, Civil Defence Force, Sabah Electricity and the Water Department,” he said.
The firefighting operation employed three different approaches. The first involved using fire hydrants connected to Fire Rescue Tenders (FRT) in three streams covering 500 feet with one jet, 200 feet with water assistance to the fire tender tank and 300 feet to a separate FRT.
The second phase utilised two 500-feet streams with two jets from portable pumps drawing water from the sea, while the third phase involved one 400-feet stream with one portable pump jet from the sea through the Community Fire Brigade.
“The fire was brought under control at 12.44am before operations ended at 3.10am after we determined there were no further dangers in the vicinity of the incident site,” Jemishin said.
The actual cause of the fire and the total extent of losses have yet to be determined as investigations are still ongoing.
Meanwhile, the District Disaster Management Committee decided that all affected victims would be relocated to temporary accommodation at the Tawau Sports Complex beginning Sunday.
