Fire: Family members seek treatment for smoke inhalation
KUCHING: Seven members of a family, including three children, sought hospital treatment for smoke inhalation after a fire broke out beneath the staircase of a flat complex in Jalan Matang yesterday.
The incident occurred around 1am, when items stored by residents of the flat beneath the building’s stairwell suddenly caught fire, resulting in thick smoke engulfing the corridor and preventing a family staying in a unit adjacent to the staircase from escaping.
A spokesperson for the Fire and Rescue Department ( Bomba) said its personnel were despatched to the scene at 1am following a distress call and arrived to assist the affected family out of their unit before putting out the fire.
“The victims complained of shortness of breath as a result of smoke inhalation and were treated on the spot by Bomba medics prior to being sent to the Sarawak General Hospital for further medical attention,” said the spokesperson.
The family members, comprising three children aged between three and seven, two teenagers aged 13 and 16 years, a 38-year- old female and a 73-year- old male, are said to be in stable condition following treatment.
The fire, meanwhile, was fully extinguished at 2am.
In a separate fire case, a doublestorey house at Kampung Sungai Midin in Petra Jaya was razed to the ground while all of its occupants were out yesterday.
Bomba personnel from the Petra Jaya and Batu Lintang fire stations were despatched to the scene following a distress call at 2.29pm, but were unable to save the semi-wooden structure from suffering an estimated 90 per cent damage.
It is said that firemen were hampered in their efforts to douse the flames as there was no fire hydrant in the vicinity of the burning house.