PETALING JAYA: Three workers escaped death this morning when the ‘dhobi’ shop where they were working, was destroyed by a fire which also razed seven car workshops and 13 vehicles in the Jalan 51/203 area in Petaling Jaya.
One of the three, Muhamad Mateen Sharif, 48, said he and his colleagues were so engrossed in their laundry work at about 7am that they were unaware of the fire.
“I was ironing clothes when I smelt smoke and realised there was a big fire outside the shop,“ he told Bernama when met at the scene of the incident, adding that he and his friends panicked when they couldn’t find a way out but fortunately, a Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya staff member came to their aid by dousing part of the fire but the blaze continued to spread after their escape.
‘Dhobi’ shop owner Tauhid Nadir said he was driving to the area, behind a line of fire engines, only to realise that it was his premises that was on fire, while workshop owner Leang Ah Hong, 63, said he found out about the blaze when he received a call from a customer who had taken his car in for repair.
The equipment in Leang’s workshop was destroyed but a car and lorry parked by the side of the premises were saved.
Petaling Jaya Fire and Rescue Station operations commander Mohd Hafiz Mat Dali said a team of 40 firemen and five fire engines from Petaling Jaya, Subang, Damansara, Serdang and Taman Tun Dr Ismail were deployed to the scene after a distress call was received at about 7.45am.
The blaze was put out by 8.29am, while investigations into the cause of the fire are underway, he added. — Bernama
