Row of shops destroyed in in Tawau fire
Published on: Wednesday, October 01, 2014
TAWAU: A row of semi-concrete shops in a 50-year-old building which has historical value at Jalan Dunlop here was razed to the ground at midnight Monday. Ten outlets were destroyed involving eight jewellery shops, a textile shop, a sundry shop and a handphone shop, among others, while another 10 shops were saved by firefighters.
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Three fire engines and 38 firefighters were dispatched to the scene after being alerted at 11.54pm. Fire and Rescue station head here, Rudy Fredzex, said they did face some difficulties to put out the fire as the building was made of wood and concrete and the wooden material made the fire spread more quickly to other shops."When my team reached the scene, seven shops were already destroyed. However, they did their best and managed to control the fire from spreading further at 1am.
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"Fortunately, no casualties were reported and the cause of fire and losses are still under investigation," he said here, Tuesday.Eight personnel from Civil Defence Department, two from Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd, 25 policemen and eight Rela personnel also assisted the firemen in the operation.
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Meanwhile, Persatuan Warisan Sejarah Tawau (Pewaris Tawau) President Azlan Lauddin Martin said the old building was built in the early 1960s after a major fire had gutted the previous building there in 1953."We are very sad because the shop houses are among the historical memories for the generations here."In fact, I have many memories there as the building was the place where I often waited for my mother to go to the wet market."Previously, there was also a famous coffee shop in the building and it became a meeting place for the people here before the shop moved to another building here," he said.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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