KUCHING: Longhouse fires are decreasing, thanks to various advocacy and education programmes as well as engagements with the longhouse folk.
State Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) director Khirudin Drahman, who revealed this, said, “In 2019, there were 21 cases of longhouse fires and last year, there were 16 cases. From March to May this year, there were eight cases including the recent fire in Kanowit.
“We hope with the advocacy and education programmes, the number will continue to decrease. Fires are inevitable because of the 3L (Lupa, Leka dan Lalai) (forgetfulness, carelessness and negligent attitudes of the public) syndrome and they happen in developed countries, too.
Khirudin said this in his welcoming speech during the launch of the Fire Safety Campaign in conjunction with Hari Raya Aidilfitri at the Bomba Sarawak Headquarters on Monday (May 10).
“We want to educate the community on how important it is to manage and extinguish fires at the early stage. The first five minutes are the most important,” he added.
On the Fire and Safety Campaign, Khirudin said various programmes had to be conducted consistently to educate the public.
He also revealed that the 124 longhouse fires reported from 2015 to 2020 in the state were caused by small fires.
“Most of the fires happened not because of explosions or industrial fires. When fires happen, panic is always the culprit as it causes people to lose the ability to think and act,” he said.
He added that most longhouse fires occurred in remote areas far from the nearest fire and rescue station. There were also no proper access roads in these areas.
Khiruddin revealed that recently, University College of Technology Sarawak (UCTS) had an engagement with experts from China on the growing concerns of longhouse fires and fires in remote villages.
“During the webinar, an academician from UCTS suggested a study to analyse the fire cases in the state. Based on our analysis, we found villagers could be safe if they acted promptly and correctly during the early stages of the fires.”
He added that allocations given by various parties including the state government were utilised to conduct such programmes.
Also present at the launch of the launch of the Fire Safety Campaign was Minister of Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Minister Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah.
