KUANTAN: Two pre-war shoplots along Jalan Mahkota here were gutted by fire on Tuesday (Sept 1) night, with flames destroying most of the upper floor of a clothing shop.
Pahang Fire and Rescue Department director Datuk Mohd Razam Taja Rahim said a distress call was received at 11.33pm and the Kuantan fire station was the first team to arrive at the scene.
"Upon arrival, the fire was already raging on the upper floor of Unit No. 43, a clothing shop. It had also spread to the upper level of the adjacent premises,” he told reporters at the site on Wednesday (Sept 2).
He said preliminary inspections revealed the fire was contained entirely to the upper floor of the clothing shop, believed to be the point of origin. The ground floor showed no significant signs of fire damage.
"Damping-down efforts are still going on to ensure no embers remain and to prevent any rekindling.
"The operation has proceeded smoothly with no water supply issues, and there are no casualties,” he said.
Mohd Razam said the Fire Investigation Unit has yet to determine the exact cause of the blaze and the value of losses.
He added that both premises were believed to be over 100 years old and made extensive use of timber, which contributed to the fire's rapid spread.
The firefighting and rescue operation involved 33 personnel from the Kuantan, Indera Mahkota, Gebeng, Taman Tas and Peramu fire stations.
The owner of the clothing shop, Norhan Mohd Nor, 51, said he received news of the incident around 11.30 pm and arrived at the premises about 15 minutes later.
He said the shop was a storage and distribution hub for his two clothing outlets in Kuantan, and had also been holding a large quantity of new inventory in preparation for the festive season.
"A lot of festive stock had just come in. There's really nothing we can do now. This shop was the central point for distributing stock to other outlets, so the losses are substantial," he told Bernama when met at the scene. — Bernama
