Four in a family killed in USJ2 fire

[opulant]

Four people perished in a fire which razed a double storey terrace house in USJ2. Two of the victims were found in a room while another was found in a toilet and the fourth victim was found in a separate room. It is believed they all succumbed to the smoke and died from smoke inhalation..

http://www.thestar.com.my/news/natio...le-of-windows/

[opulant]

Most of the landed properties notably the intermediate houses have very poor air ventilation.

At night, doors and windows downstairs need to be closed for privacy and safety, and to prevent mosquitos. Windows of bedrooms upstairs need to be closed as air-conditioner is switched on. Smoke from fire or poisonous gas from leaking LPG can’t escape to outdoor and accumulate inside the house..

[zinglicious]

Deepest condolences to the family.

I still find it hard to believe how they succumbed to smoke inhalation. They could have break the windows or wet themselves with towels.

And the short circuit can be dangerous and I wonder why the fuse dun work? Once I smelled smoke in my old restaurant and when I checked there were fires in the neighborhood fuse box along the stairway. The whole thing was burning all the rubber hoses.......

[Naka]

According to that link, ....'trapped by the iron grille on the windows of their house.'

I too had often wonder why no provision of emergency exits in these fully grilled houses.

RIP

[cskok8]

One window in each room is supposed to have an opening. But in the dark and panic, not easy to find the key to open it. Or maybe not installed

[opulant]

...I too had often wonder why no provision of emergency exits in these fully grilled houses...

When illegal renovation/construction can be "legalized" by re-submitting drawing years after renovation was done, and extension after extension of compliance deadline were granted to law-breakers because of all sort of excuses, who else pay serious attention to complying building safety ??

and since every policy here is carried out with the calculation of voters' support in mind, if the decision from municipal council is perceived to have negative impact on political support, the decision will be interfered by politicians to please the supporters in their constituency.

Hence, there is no need to wonder at all ...


Disclaimer : No disrespect to the fire victims. Just want to point out the general safety mindset of people over here..

[Naka]

Every now and then you see FIRE DRILLS in offices, ships and other buildings.

It is a good idea to do that at homes. Knowing where the exits are and knowing where the keys are are of paramount importance.

Very often exit paths are blocked by household stuffs making it impossible to walk freely through. Small details like these may save lives

[zinglicious]

The fire broke out at the living hall which has a large volume & was very intensed. All the victims were trapped upstair. The fire service department suspected it was caused by electrical wiring short circuit. However relatives of the decease had refuted saying that the house was recently renovated & the wirings had been replaced.
Just as words of precaution, other possibilities could be due to power extension cord , appliances such as Home AV equipment & computer were not switched off at the wall socket over the night. The end socket of the power cord could be defective. The home appliances could have internal insulation breakdown or overheating which can cause burning. They are not protected by earth wire which will facilitate power tripping although their plugs are with earth pin. If these items are placed on combustible surface or very close to combustible materials, the risk is there. Therefore it is advisable to switch off every appliances at the wall socket before going to bed except essential equipment such as refrigerator.
The other risk is charging hand phone overnight & placed them on combustible surface such as wooden table, shelf or sofa. It is always our fear that the battery may explode during charging. It should be placed on hard & non combustible surface such as glass, floor mable or tiles if you need to charge overnight.

( this has been copied from my facebook and paste here ).

BtW, this guy is a decent retired real estate agent, It is sad that he had suffered such accidental fate.

[bslee]

The fire broke out at the living hall which has a large volume & was very intensed. All the victims were trapped upstair. The fire service department suspected it was caused by electrical wiring short circuit. However relatives of the decease had refuted saying that the house was recently renovated & the wirings had been replaced.

I assume its re-wiring inside the house only. What about the integrity of your ground cable to the ground rod? Expect that to last for ever or the lifetime of the house? Trust me it rots within 5 years. I check mine EVERY YEAR..takes a few mins because I know how to and its not difficult. Test button on the ELCB isn't any assurance its optimum. Renovated homes with owner cementing the entire front or grass area is likely to cover up the electrical ground location and be ignored thereon.
Just happened to see a couple of pics of the house on Hannah's FB page. The house don't even have a back exit door. Its walled up entirely only with a couple of windows. The fire must have been so intense reaching upstairs that it melted out one air con condenser unit outside the back portion. Its really a very bad fire.

[Scooty]

It was horrific. Almost a whole family wiped out in under an hour. RIP.

It is important to remember where the keys to the window grill padlocks are kept. Just in case.

[Jennylim]

When illegal renovation/construction can be "legalized" by re-submitting drawing years after renovation was done, and extension after extension of compliance deadline were granted to law-breakers because of all sort of excuses, who else pay serious attention to complying building safety ??

and since every policy here is carried out with the calculation of voters' support in mind, if the decision from municipal council is perceived to have negative impact on political support, the decision will be interfered by politicians to please the supporters in their constituency.

Hence, there is no need to wonder at all ...


Disclaimer : No disrespect to the fire victims. Just want to point out the general safety mindset of people over here..

When my house renovation had completed, I got a CF for it. I thought that was necessary to get a fire insurance and my concern was a house without a CF might not be covered by insurance company.

On legalised illegal renovation, I believe there must be a reason to keep at least 5 feet space from property border, could be to reduce noise complain, prevent peeping, slow down fire spreading to house behind, etc. Who is responsible if such problem happen?

I told my children what to do in case of fire when they were still in primary school. Really sad that these grown up didn't prepare for such risk!

[bslee]

I told my children what to do in case of fire when they were still in primary school. Really sad that these grown up didn't prepare for such risk!

In real situation panic can easily prevail and people cannot think straight, anything can happen.

[earlybird]

Let this be a lesson and warning to many households in Malaysia who,due to the security situation have multiple locks on all doors.In case of an emergency like a fire it is not easy to locate the keys and unlock so many locks.A case in point is my in laws condo in PJ which has 2 pad locks in the front grill door. I find it a real hassle even under normal circumstances to unlock the door and I do not even want to think of what will happen when there is an emergency.Contrast this to my house here in Toronto where no key is required to get out of the house.

[opulant]

....Just as words of precaution, other possibilities could be due to power extension cord , appliances such as Home AV equipment & computer were not switched off at the wall socket over the night. The end socket of the power cord could be defective. The home appliances could have internal insulation breakdown or overheating which can cause burning. They are not protected by earth wire which will facilitate power tripping although their plugs are with earth pin. [/B]If these items are placed on combustible surface or very close to combustible materials, the risk is there. Therefore it is advisable to switch off every appliances at the wall socket before going to bed except essential equipment such as refrigerator...

Not sure how you derrive to such assertion ??

In Japan and most countries in Europe, the electrical plug are the 2 pins type, there is no earth wire in the entire house.

I guess people in Japan and Europe must be constantly exposed to fire risk !!

[opulant]

...I told my children what to do in case of fire when they were still in primary school. Really sad that these grown up didn't prepare for such risk!

Yes, this is very important thing for the whole family. People will panic in real situation and this is why training/practice is important.

Do something before anything happen instead of just blaming the uncontrollable factors... a common attribute found in simpletons.

Keep the emergency response simple. Refine them from time to time to make it even more simple and straight forward like a natural response.