17-hour operation ends after fire destroys 5 premises near Chew Jetty
GEORGE TOWN: Firefighters completed a 17-hour operation after a blaze destroyed five semi-permanent premises at Pengkalan Weld near Chew Jetty early today.
At 1:08am today, a blaze erupted near Chew Jetty in George Town, destroying five semi-permanent buildings and four vehicles. The fire claimed roughly 80% damage on the structures and 10% on the Honda, while the Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Suzuki cars suffered about 80% destruction each. Operations Assistant Director John Sagun Francis of the Penang Fire and Rescue Department reported that the flames were extinguished at 1:42am, but firefighters continued to conduct overhauls and safety checks, concluding the operation at 5:51pm.
The affected premises included T.A.A. Enterprise T-shirt printing shop, Leong Huat Auto Repairs, Chin Fook Car Service Centre, Herritage Wood Works, and OK Scrap Trading. Firefighters utilized both offensive and defensive tactics, along with fire breaks, and employed an excavator to facilitate direct fire attacks. An estimated 25 firefighters from the Lebuh Pantai, Jalan Perak, and Paya Terubong fire stations, along with volunteer firefighters from various districts, joined the rescue efforts.
Police and Tenaga Nasional Berhad personnel also provided assistance at the scene. Remarkably, no casualties were reported during the 17-hour operation.
The Penang Fire and Rescue Department's Fire Investigation Division will now take over the case, while the Post-Incident One-Stop Centre provided guidance and collected data from the affected premises' owners to aid in necessary support.
Written by urgent.news from New Straits Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
