In Pontian, firemen saves trapped woman from flat’s blaze

PONTIAN, Feb 17 — A 38-year-old woman narrowly cheated death after firemen manage to free her after she was trapped in her flat unit that was engulfed in flames in Taman Pontian Utama here early this morning.

The victim, identified as Nor Khalifah Mohd Wazir, suffered an injury to her right hand and was later treated by Emergency Medical Rescue Services (EMRS) paramedics at the scene.

Pontian Baru fire and rescue station chief Assistant Fire Superintendent Mahadir Mamat said firemen were immediately despatched to the scene after they received a distress call at 12.53am.

He said the victim had difficulty escaping to the exit stairwell of the ground floor as the fire had engulfed the area.

“After entering the burning four-storey flats, firemen managed to locate the victim who was trapped in between the first floor and ground floor.

“The firemen then removed the flat’s first-floor back windows as an emergency exit and managed to climb out to safety,” said Mahadir when contacted by the press here.

Earlier, a total of 15 firemen assisted by a Fire Rescue Tender (FRT), EMRS team and a tanker arrived to render assistance in controlling the blaze.

Beside the woman, Mahadir said five other victims, including three migrant workers from Nepal, managed to flee from the fire.

He said the five who were located on the flat’s fourth floor managed to flee to safety by themselves during the incident.

“The fire also destroyed four motorcycles which is a Yamaha Ego, Honda RS, Honda Wave 100 and Yamaha LC,” he said, adding that the the entire operation ended at 2.54am.

Mahadir said initial investigations revealed that rhe fire had originated from the Tenaga Nasional Berhad electricity meter room located on the flat’s ground floor.

He added that the actual cause of the fire and damage estimation are still pending investigation.