Elderly man saves 8 grandchildren, son in house fire in Sibu

 The blaze destroyed a home former armed forces member Umar Sidee built over nearly four decades.

In the 11am incident yesterday, the house was destroyed, leaving the family with only the clothes on their backs. (JBPM pic)

PETALING JAYA:

An elderly man risked his life to save his eight grandchildren and a son after their family home was destroyed in a fire at Kampung Jeriah Abang Ramli, Jalan Oya Lama, in Sibu, Sarawak, yesterday morning.

Umar Sidee, 66, said he and his wife were tending to an orchard about six metres from their two-storey semi-permanent house, which was home to 19 family members from three households, at the time.

His eight grandchildren, aged between four and 14, were watching television on the ground floor, while his son, in his 20s, was upstairs.

“My wife suddenly shouted that our house was on fire. At the same time, I heard several explosions.

“As soon as I saw flames spreading from the back of the house, I ran inside and brought out all my grandchildren before rushing upstairs to wake up my son,” Bernama reported him as saying today.

The former armed forces member said despite thick smoke and rising heat, he made sure no one was left inside before escaping.

Umar said he and several villagers later tried to extinguish the fire using buckets of water, but the blaze spread too quickly.

Firefighters who arrived at the scene later instructed residents to move away as conditions became increasingly dangerous, leaving them to watch the house being engulfed by flames.

The fire destroyed a home Umar had built gradually over nearly four decades after he retired from the armed forces in 1995.

In the 11am incident yesterday, the house was destroyed, leaving the family with only the clothes on their backs. - FMT