BELAGA: Fire destroyed a double-storey wooden building at the district’s police headquarters here today.
The State Fire Department operations centre despatched firemen from the Bintulu fire station to the scene after receiving a distress call on the incident around 1.19pm.
Belaga auxiliary firemen were also mobilised to the scene to carry out initial extinguishing work.
Most of the buildings at the police headquarters are wooden.
The public could only watch the inferno from afar. 
Thick smoke and raging fire at the height of the inferno. 
The aftermath of the inferno that burned down the building block at the police headquarters.
Chairman of the Belaga auxilliary firemen, Abu Mutalib Mokhtar, said the fire happened around 1pm. He said the fire was put out by using a water pump and complete firefighting equipment.
The inferno was successfully extinguished at 3.45pm with the help of the Civil Defence Force, People’s Volunteer Corps (Rela) and the public.
No casualties were reported during the blaze. The cause of the fire and losses incurred are being investigated by the Bintulu firemen who arrived at the scene around 5.27pm after a four-hour drive.
Bintulu fire chief Christus Buson reported that the fire began from the narcotics office and was believed to have been caused by an electrical short circuit.
“The hot and windy weather conditions caused the fire to spread rapidly. At the time of the incident, two detainees were rescued while government assets such as police vehicles and firearms, were the only ones saved.
“The two-storey building was made of wood and had a zinc roof. It housed the Belaga police station, district police chief’s office, special branch, management office, CID branch, traffic branch, Crime Prevention and Community Safety branch, narcotics branch, transportation branch, financial branch, licensing office, record office, communication office, local forensic identification office and the police lock-up,” he said.
The fire destroyed the building completely. Only the concrete structure in the lock-up remained.
Christus said the fire forensic teams from the State Fire Department and Bintulu fire station, as well as a canine (K-9) unit would carry out a full investigation tomorrow (Dec 15) to identify the actual cause of the fire and losses incurred.
