MIRI – A devastating fire swept through a huge longhouse in the remote interior of Julau district in central Sarawak, killing a resident and leaving 189 others homeless.
The double-storey longhouse known as Rumah Michael Maran was reduced to ashes and rubbles in the outbreak that occurred at about 7pm last night.
Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department today said the longhouse had 36 living quarters built adjoining to each other.
“The longhouse was destroyed completely. The deceased was a handicapped man found dead inside one of the rooms.
“All the 36 living quarters were totally burned,” the department said in a press statement.
Another resident suffered burns while the rest managed to escape the flames.
The process of trying to compile the personal data of the 189 left homeless has begun but the task is tough as they also lost their personal documents in the flames, the department said.
The cause of the fire is still being probed, it added, stressing that the losses are severe.
The department’s personnel have alerted the welfare authorities to help the homeless victims.
Longhouse fires have become a constant worry among the nearly one million folks living in such settlements throughout rural Sarawak.
Almost every month will see a fire outbreak in these rural communities.
The last incident occurred last month at the Uma Nyaving longhouse in the Sungai Asap resettlement scheme in central Sarawak near the Bakun Dam.
The longhouses were occupied by natives of the Bakun region who were forced to leave their forests due to the massive RM15 billion hydroelectric dam project in 1997.
The Vibes reported recently their grouses towards state and federal government leaders for failing to fulfil 25 years of promises to upgrade their resettlement longhouses, eight of which were destroyed by fires. – The Vibes, September 29, 2023
