Mother, 7 children jump into river to escape fire
PENAMPANG: A mother made a daring escape when she jumped into a river together with her seven children in a bid to escape from a fire which destroyed their home and 16 other wooden houses in Kampung Dumpil at Jalan Lok Kawi Lama in Putatan on Wednesday.
Sahara Ismail, 35, was initially taking an evening nap with her seven children, aged two to 16, when she was awakened by a loud commotion around 10 pm on April 21.
“As I went to investigate what was happening, I saw one of my neighbour's houses was already on fire.
“I immediately woke all my children up and carried my youngest child as we all ran out of our house and jumped into the river to save ourselves,” she said when met at the scene on Wednesday.
Although Sahara's house was spared from the fire, she and her children were all covered in mud from the waist down.
She was eventually rescued by other villagers who brought them to safety.
“Although my house was not affected, I panicked at that time as all I could think was to save my children. Thank God nothing happened to any one of us,” she said.
Meanwhile, Penampang police chief DSP Haris Ibrahim said the police were informed of the fire at 10.20 pm and immediately deployed a team to help control the situation.
“We were informed that about 17 to 20 houses were destroyed in the fire while the Fire and Rescue Department from Penampang managed to control the blaze by 12.20 am.
“No untoward incident was reported while all fire victims are currently being placed at the Serigai Community Hall in Putatan,” said Haris when met at the scene.
Haris therefore reminded the public to be careful especially during the Ramadan period.
“We know that many families are preparing food either late evening or early in the morning for ‘Sahur' but I would like to remind them to be more careful and ensure there is someone looking after the cooking to avoid unwanted incidents from happening,” he said.
Meanwhile, Penampang Fire and Rescue station chief Zainal@ John Radsung said a distress call was made to the station at 10.19 pm and 30 firefighters were immediately deployed to the location, about 14 kilometers from the Penampang fire station.
“Upon our arrival, we and our colleagues from Kota Kinabalu Fire Station, immediately carried out ‘Offensive Firefighting' and managed to control the flame within 30 minutes.
“So far, 17 houses have been destroyed in the fire but thankfully no untoward incident was reported,” he said, adding that the cause of the fire and total loss is still under investigation.