Series of fires hit Tawau, dozens left homeless

Fires in Tawau (Centure Department Store)

KOTA KINABALU: After a freak storm struck Tawau late Sunday (July 4), which destroyed some houses due to fallen trees, the district was hit by a series of fires that left dozens of squatters homeless.

In the first incident, a fire at the Kg Panji water village started at about 6pm on Monday (July 5) and destroyed about 10 wooden structures including a sundry shop.

The Fire and Rescue Department investigating officer for this case, Ronnie James said initial investigations indicated that the fire started from a house that had an electrical malfunction.

He said the resident of the house told firemen that the ceiling from one of his rooms had started to catch fire first, giving them time to flee and alert their neighbours before it spread to other houses in the water village.

Fire breaking methods were used to contain the fire from spreading to more houses, hence saving the hundreds of adjoining structures from being destroyed.

On Tuesday (July 6), a supermarket was destroyed after it was struck by lightning at around 1am.

A security guard claimed he saw lighting strike the Century Department Store building before sparks flew from one of the main switches.

Firemen said that the lightning strike might have caused an electric overcurrent on the electrical service line which later caused the fire.

In Kota Kinabalu, 10 squatter homes at the Tanjung Aru Baru water village were razed to the ground early Tuesday (July 6).

Operations commander Ordine Gilu from the Fire Department said that 40 firemen were sent to the scene following a distress call at 7.08am.

“They used the offensive firefighting method to stop the spread of the fire,” he said.

The fire was brought under control at 7.58am.

No casualties were reported in these incidents.