Tawau: More than 20 houses in Kampung Pukat, Tanjung Batu Laut here were destroyed in a fire, Friday.Tawau Fire and Rescue Department Chief Ismaidi Ismail said three fire engines with two water tankers and 30 personnel rushed to the scene after receiving a call at 1.05pm."The fire spread quickly as the houses were made of wood, but we were able to control the fire from spreading to other areas at 2.15pm," he said when met at the scene.
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No one was injured in the incident and the cause of the fire was still being investigated.Tanjung Batu's State Assemblyman Datuk Hamisa Samat, when met at the scene, asked the Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd to also investigate if there was any illegal electricity connection in the area that often caused the outbreak of fires.
Meanwhile, in KOTA KINABALLU, two houses were damaged in two separate fires on Thursday and Friday. In the first incident, a family of five managed to escape unscathed when their water heater caught fire at their double-storey terrace house in Taman Mei Lok, Jalan Keladi, in Lido, about 10pm.
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It was learnt that the house owner, known only as Tam, was not at home when the incident took place. His daughter-in-law who noticed smoke coming from the bathroom, managed to gather her two children, aged one and four, as well as her mother and younger sibling, and brought them all to safety.
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It was learnt that the family had stayed in the premises for 30 years and that they bought the water heater four years ago. The woman sought help from neighbours and together they managed to put the fire out before firefighters arrived.In the second incident, the upper level of a double-storey house in Taman Khidmat was destroyed in a fire at about 10.30am on Friday. The house owner was said to be on outstation duty, leaving only his maid and a male worker, in the house when the incident occurred.
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According to one worker, he left the house at about 10am and received a call from his colleague, the maid, about 30 minutes later, telling him that there was smoke coming from the upper floor of the premises. "I rushed to the house and saw fire coming from the master bedroom," he said, adding that it could have been a short circuit from the closed circuit television.