Residents’ fire safety knowledge helps save Sare longhouse from destruction following short circuit

Longhouse residents with the fire extinguishers they used to douse the sparks.

SARIKEI (Jan 31): Basic fire safety knowledge and well-placed fire extinguishers saved Rumah Rasir in Sare near here from being destroyed by a fire sparked by a short-circuit last night.

Sarikei Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) chief Mahmudin Narudin credited the outreach programmes held in longhouses, villages, and schools for the favourable outcome.

“With the knowledge learnt through the programme, the residents of Rumah Rasit efficiently used the fire extinguishers to douse the sparks before they went out of control,” he explained.

Upon receiving a distress call at 7.24pm, he said seven firefighters were deployed to the longhouse.

When they reached the scene located about 20km away, longhouse residents had already put out the fire.

SEB staff inspect a section of the cable which sparked.

“They had put out the fire with three units of fire extinguishers they kept handy at the longhouse. The firefighters did not have to carry out a firefighting operation,” he said.

Mahmudin said five policemen and three Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB) staff were also present.

He added firefighters conducted inspections to ensure the situation was safe before leaving the longhouse around two hours later.

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