BELURU – A devastating nocturnal blaze completely gutted a local residential structure in the Ulu Teru district early this morning, leaving multiple families displaced. The Beluru District Operations Control Centre (PKOD) was jolted into action in the early hours of Friday after receiving a panicked distress call from a member of the public reporting a major fire outbreak at a longhouse settlement.
The emergency occurred at approximately 2:20 AM at Rumah Henry Gomes, situated in Kampung Mission, Ulu Teru. Recognizing the extreme urgency of the situation, the Beluru Civil Defence Force (APM) immediately dispatched its Charlie Squad. A team of four disciplined responders, under the tactical leadership of Private Gadieng Anak Issau, rushed to the scene, which was located roughly 500 metres away from their operational staging point.
Upon their rapid arrival at the coordinates, the civil defence personnel encountered a well-developed inferno tearing through the traditional wooden structure. Charlie Squad immediately joined forces with courageous local villagers in a desperate bid to contain the wall of flames. The joint containment effort utilized 36 portable fire extinguisher units alongside manual bucket brigades to douse the advancing fire with water.
Despite the frantic and coordinated firefighting efforts of the responders and the community, the flames spread with extreme speed through the contiguous housing blocks. Official assessments conducted after the incident revealed that the fire impacted a five-door segment of the longhouse structure, which was approximately 95 percent destroyed by the time the inferno was successfully brought under control.
The five affected doors were occupied by four separate households, encompassing a total of 10 individual residents who lost nearly all of their worldly possessions in the midnight disaster. Preliminary investigations into the origin of the outbreak indicate that the incident was likely triggered by an electrical fault within the building’s wiring infrastructure, though formal forensic investigations will follow.
Miraculously, despite the rapid spread of the fire and the late hour at which it struck, no fatalities or serious physical injuries were reported among the residents or the first responders. Every occupant managed to evacuate the burning longhouse safely, avoiding what could have easily escalated into a major humanitarian tragedy for the small Kampung Mission community.
Following the containment and complete extinguishment of the embers, local disaster management authorities confirmed that no formal Temporary Evacuation Centre (PPS) was required to be opened for the night. The 10 displaced individuals chose to seek immediate shelter and comfort down the road, taking up temporary residence at the homes of close relatives living nearby.
With the scene declared entirely safe and all structural hazards mitigated, the weary members of Charlie Squad gathered their equipment and moved back to the PKOD Beluru headquarters to resume their emergency standby status. The successful preservation of life during the volatile incident highlights the ongoing operational mantra of the agency, which strives to remain ready to quickly integrate into community crises.
Municipal authorities have used this unfortunate event to remind rural residents, particularly those living in traditional longhouses, to remain vigilant regarding electrical safety. The department recommends regular inspections of older wiring networks and advises against overloading power sockets, as faulty electrical systems remain one of the leading causes of devastating fires in rural communities.
