By Rebecca Chong
90 houses destroyed by fire in Sandakan water village
SANDAKAN: Ninety houses were destroyed by fire at Jambatan 1 to Jambatan 5, Kampung Gas water village here around 2pm yesterday.
About 400 villagers were affected.
Sandakan Fire and Rescue Department chief Anddre Andrew said firemen stopped the fire from spreading from Jambatan 6 to 12 and managed to save a wood factory that was in the area.
“Two acres with 90 homes were affected by the fire. We had difficulty controlling the fire quickly as the water pressure from the fire hydrant was weak,” he said.
Anddre added the fire station received a distress call on the incident at 1.56pm and he led 22 personnel and officers in four fire engines and two utility vehicles to the scene.
The fire was controlled at 4.15pm and the operation ended at 5.38pm. No casualty was reported. A victim, Nasrun Abdul Ghani, 63, said that this was the second time that his house had been destroyed in a fire after the first incident in 1994.
He said his family of seven could only save their clothes, important documents and an electric rice cooker.
Several household items, among them a refrigerator, washing machine, television and furniture, were destroyed, he added.
The fire spread fast because of the close proximity of the houses and a strong wind, he said, adding that the family would stay temporarily with relatives in the same village.