BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

A 12-YEAR-OLD girl died in a blaze that gutted a two-storey house in Kg Lambak Kiri last night.

When The Brunei Times arrived at the scene at 10.15pm, the fire had been extinguished but the Fire and Rescue team were still searching for the missing family member.

“We received an emergency call at 8.46pm and arrived at the scene in five minutes; the team from Lambak arrived first,” said Senior Superintendent Muhd Shahreeni Yussof, the commanding officer for Berakas and Lambak Fire and Rescue Stations.

“We were told that the victim was trapped inside the house,” he added, before confirming that the team had found the body of the missing girl, who the parents have asked not to be named in this report.

The commanding officer said that four families with a total of 27 members lived in the house.

Although The Brunei Times saw one girl being treated for smoke inhalation by an ambulance medic at the scene, the authorities had confirmed that all the other family members were safely evacuated from the house.

Noor Azman Hj Sulaiman, the uncle of the girl who perished in the blaze, said he was resting when the lights went out.

“I thought it was a blown fuse and wanted to go to the main switch, but I went outside to see if the whole area was affected. That’s when I saw the smoke coming from the house and knew that there was a fire,” he said

“We shouted: ‘Fire! Fire!’ so that everyone would run out,” he said.

At the time of the interview, the investigation by firefighters into the cause of the blaze was still ongoing and he could not determine the estimated cost of damage to the home.

According to the commanding officer, 24 firefighters and four fire engines, two from each station, were deployed to the scene.

It took firefighters 42 minutes to extinguish the blaze, a factor exacerbated by the first team to arrive having difficulties locating the fire hydrant as it was covered with soil.

“We couldn’t find the fire hydrant as it was being covered illegally (near a shop at the entrance of the street). That’s why it took time to get water supply,” he explained.

“The water pressure was also low. Because of the difficulties, we called for a water tank from Bandar to render assistance. In the meantime, it took the firefighters five minutes to dig up the area surrounding the hydrant,” he said.

In light of the complications, Muhd Shahreeni reminded members of the public to make sure that the fire hydrant is kept in sight as to not hinder the work of firefighters in such emergency situations.

“This has happened before in other districts. This is the first time this year that it has happened in my command.”

Also at the scene to assist in assessing the situation were teams from the Royal Brunei Police Force, Department of Electrical Services, Crime Investigation Department, medics and forensics.

The Brunei Times

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