Fire leaves seven families homeless
BINTULU: Seven houses, including one for storing fishing equipment, were destroyed in an early morning fire yesterday, rendering 41 persons from seven families at Kampung Sebuan Besar, Jepak homeless.
Head of Bintulu fire station Di- Hata Gobel said the station despatched 14 firemen led by Mustafa Wasli to the village about 12 km away after receiving a distress call at 2.04am.
He said his men were assisted by 20 members of the Jepak Jumbo Squad volunteer fire fighting team at the scene.
“Upon arrival at the scene, we managed to prevent the fire from spreading by using water from the nearby fire hydrant and building fire breaks.
“The houses were very close to each other which restricted our movement. The fire is believed to have started from one of the houses. We managed to extinguish the fire around 6.04am.
“However, the fire did not cause any injury,” he said, adding they also got help from the police, Sesco and villagers.
Meanwhile, heads of the seven families received immediate help in the form of RM1,000 each from Bintulu Member of Parliament Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing, who came to visit them yesterday.
The Progressive Democratic Party ( PDP) president also gave RM10,000 to the security and development committee of the village to clear the site of the burnt houses and pledged to give RM20,000 to each family to build a new house.
He also said he would ask the State Development Office ( SDO) to hasten the rebuilding of the new houses.
At the same time, he said he would raise the need for a fire station in Jepak area in Parliament in October.
Minister in the Chief Minister’s Office (Integrity and Ombudsman) and Jepak assemblyman Datuk Talib Zulpilip, Bintulu Resident Muhamad Yakup Kari, Deputy Resident Hamdiah Bakir, Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu ( PBB) Jepak deputy chief Saidi Abang Samsuddin, Bintulu district officer Mataip Sayu and members of PBB Jepak and PDP also went to the village to give assistance to the fire victims.
Di- Hata, who was involved directly in the fire fighting operation, was also at the scene.
Talib presented cash and food donations to the fire victims and said he would seek the necessary allocation from the government to assist them.
Bintulu Social Welfare Office also provided basic assistance to the fire victims and gave RM5,000 to each family to help rebuild their homes.