SIBU: A parting-wall or partition should be incorporated into the ceiling structure when building new longhouses.
“This can help slow down the spread in the event of a fire,” Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) director Nor Hisham Mohammad told The Borneo Post yesterday.
In the case of the gutted Rh Lichai Pusong in Sungai Tepus, Ulu Balingian, he learned that the entire structure was built from wood about five years ago.
A fire levelled the 16-door longhouse, leaving 96 residents homeless around 10am on Tuesday.
“A wooden structure can be completely razed in about 30 minutes depending on the weather condition, the dryness of the wood and number of years it had been built,” Nor Hisham said, stressing the importance of having a parting-wall.
He also suggested that longhouse residents take into consideration the building of a wider access road in future to accommodate fire engines.
Citing several places, including Rh Lichai Pusong, he said fire engines could not access the site due to the narrow road.
This, he added, hampered firefighting efforts as they needed to do a relay. “We have to connect several hoses together to the site to fight the fire.”
Towards this end, he was in full support for the call by Agriculture (Research and Marketing) Assistant Minister Datuk Mong Dagang for longhouses to utilise part of their Minor Rural Project (MRP) fund granted by their elected representatives, to purchase fire extinguishers.
He stressed that several units of fire extinguishers could help save millions worth in property from going up in smoke.