10 hours to put out fire that razed seven factories

IPOH: The Fire and Rescue Department took 10 hours to control and put out completely the fire that destroyed seven factories in Taman Menglembu Impiana Park, here early this morning.
Operations Head of the Pasir Puteh Fire and Rescue Station, Mohamed Hariri Ahmad Shaibi said firemen had to work hard to put out the fire which could easily spread due to the type of flame which was highly flammable originating from a chemical factory in the industrial area.
He said the station received a distress call at 3.45pm yesterday.
"Upon arrival at the scene, we found that the flame was blazing and a major fire had occurred at a chemical plant located in a central area before it spread to a factory nearby.
"We had to use 12 barrels of foam to put out the fire from the factory which was 95% burnt,"he said when contacted, here today.
A total of 50 firemen and officers from the Pasir Puteh, Ipoh, Pekan Baru, Batu Gajah and Pasir Pinji Fire and Rescue Stations (BBP) with seven engines and two units of the Emergency Medical Response Services (EMRS) were involved in the operation.
The operation was also assisted by 23 members of the Voluntary Fire Team from the Pekan Baru and Pasir Pinji BBP.
Mohamed Hariri said the fire too destroyed an electrical factory, a printing plant, flour mill, a beverage packing factory, a recycling plant, and a steel mill which were razed between five and 90%.
He said the fire also resulted in an employee of the chemical factory, aged 53, to sustain almost 80% burns and was sent to Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun (HRPB) for further treatment.
"Three vehicles parked near the chemical factory namely a Proton Saga BLM and a Proton Gen-2 were completely razed while a Mercedes Benz was 10% burnt,"he said.
He said the cause of the fire and total losses due to the fire were still being investigated and the operation ended completely at 2 am, today. — Bernama