TONGOD: A fire last night destroyed 44 houses in Kampung Penangah near here, leaving 282 people from 74 families homeless.
The Sabah fire and rescue department operation centre said that an emergency call was received at 7.24pm and the firefighters arrived at the scene at 11.30pm due to the remote location of the incident.
The fire affected an area of 1.21ha, with the houses built close together.
“All of the affected houses were completely destroyed. Firefighters used open water sources to extinguish the flames. Fortunately, no casualties were reported,” it said in a statement.
It added that the firefighting effort involved 13 personnel, including nine from the Kibatangan fire and rescue station and four from the Beluran fire and rescue station.
The fire was brought under control at 2.30am and the operation concluded at 7.10am this morning.