FIRE AT TOWERING SHOPS

IT HAS been three weeks since the fire broke out at the tyre shop beside Lido, Kota Kinabalu. It destroys the whole row of shops. Shortly after another fire broke out and burnt down a roll of terrace house nearby. Now another incident took place, and this time fire broke out at the Towering shops in Penampang and destroyed the top floor of the two story shops.

It is obvious and it is a question of prevention of outbreak of fires. Does the shop owners or business operators actually take safety measures by standing by some approved fire extinguishers at their premises?

Or are the current fire extinguishers that they have are expired? Actually this is a serious matter and all shops and even residential homes must have their own fire extinguishers for the safety reason. The fire always starts from small and becomes spread out to be big uncontrollable fire. A small fire can be controlled and contained by a fire extinguisher and it is very cheap when compared to a total burn down.

Sabah DAP urges everyone to take and implement safety measures at all times and to prevent such incidents from occurring. At the same time employers and employees should ensure that the fire fighting and other equipment in their premises and building are adequate to fight fire outbreak at anytime.

We were made to understand always that the water pressure was very low which was channeled from the hydrant. The water works department is urged to improve the water distribution to all hydrants. Sabah DAP also urges the relevant authorities to ensure all hydrants are functioning at all times with enough water pressure.

The bomba should go and conduct inspection on the water hydrants whether there is enough water coming out in case of fire outbreak. The area around the fire hydrants can be blocked and even being covered by overgrown grass and trees.

It will be advisable for the fire and water departments to conduct joint survey and inspection on this vital installation on fire fighting. The public should also contact the two departments for any insufficient fire hydrants to be install in their area. It is too late to blame or complain when there is a fire outbreak.