KOTA KINABALU: A man suffered burns after he rushed into a fire to save his wife and three children when a row of nine shops in a wooden block was razed in a predawn blaze in Sabah’s northern Kota Belud district.
The 32-year-old man safely took out his wife, also 32, and their three children, aged 11, five and one-month-old from the burning building.
Kota Belud Fire and Rescue Station chief Elge Bakuk said the man sustained burns and was treated by the Emergency Medical Rescue Services team at the scene, before being rushed to the Kota Belud district hospital.
He added that the man’s rescued family also received treatment from the EMRS personnel.
Firefighters were alerted to the fire at 5.32am. On arrival, it was found that 95% of the semi-permanent block of shops, about 22km from the Kota Belud fire station, was already engulfed by the fire.
Bakuk said a hydrant at a school opposite the shops had no water pressure, which resulted in firefighters sourcing water from the fire engine and refilling it from other roadside hydrants about several kilometres away.
The fire was brought under control by 7.13am and fully put out by 10.55am.
Investigations into the cause of the fire were still in progress.
