KOTA KINABALU: A fire at a factory in Kimanis almost destroyed 29,000 litres of diesel on Thursday (March 19) but damaged piles of tyres instead.
Kimanis fire station chief Nelson Ponji said an emergency call came in at 6.20pm and firemen reached the scene about 20 minutes later.
"Six barrels meant to store diesel were burnt, three of which were filled," he said in a statement on Friday (March 20).
He said the three filled barrels contained 1,000 litres, 10,000 litres and 18,000 litres of diesel.
"We managed to save two barrels but the one holding 1,000 litres of diesel was 70% destroyed," he added.
He said firemen brought the fire under control at 11pm but only managed to wrap up operations on-site at 8.20am Friday.
The firemen, including personnel from the Papar station, helped save workers' quarters and an office from being razed.
However, piles of tyres about 30m high and 30m across were totally burnt.
No casualties were reported in the incident, while the cause of the fire and losses incurred are being investigated, Nelson added.
