Four in a family killed in USJ2 fire

[Jennylim]

This case is not new. There are countless similar death by fire as resident could not escape due to grilles installed in windows and doors . Here are some of my advice;-

Break ins by thieves while there are no one in the house.

Realize one thing, the thieves have been screening your place before they strike.No grilles or lockset can prevent a thief's crowbars.

This was a question I asked myself,” is it more important to put up grill to prevent unpreventable robbery or save ourselves in case of emergency by not having grill?”. I choose the later.

I have alarm system and CCTV installed, if I am at home during a robbery, I would rather look for a safe passage to get away rather than fighting with the robbers.

Another safety measure I took was to tell my son who rarely respond to loud sound when in sleep to always keep his door close but unlock.

[opulant]

I have alarm system and CCTV installed, if I am at home during a robbery, I would rather look for a safe passage to get away rather than fighting with the robbers. .

For this matter, a purpose-built "panic room" is the ideal solution.The room is built with anti break-in features, just like a safe vault in a bank.

No kidding, I have seen one before. Two conditions required before you can have such room in your house :

- must be a big landed house as the panic room need to extend underground.
- you know a trusted contractor with trusted workers.

[Jennylim]

Room in my house has at least 3 exit points (door + windows ), I think easier to exit from wherever we are than going through panic room.

[opulant]

The panic room is designed to take escape route/time into consideration. Normally, it is nearest to the master bedroom or inside the master bedroom (if the master bedroom is downstairs)

The panic room is equipped with phone line to buzz the security company and to call the police in case you forgot to bring your mobile phone with you.There is an underground storage inside the room to keep important documents, valuables and some little secrets . In the event of fire, underground storage is the only safe place..

It would be nice if you have a small wine chiller inside the panic room and a comfy chair. Imagine having a glass of nice wine while waiting for the police to arrive to catch the blurred burglars. ..

It won't be a problem also if the intruders know you are hiding inside the panic room because it is designed not to be broken in. Just make sure all your loved ones (including your pets) are inside the room, and then enjoy the show...

[Chia Hak Soon]

Have anybody try to live in a house in Subang jaya without iron grilles and windows. I did. It may take a while to get accustomed to it. In 1986, I was very down and bought a unit in SS 19/6 , a very compact house offered to staffs of Sime UEP.
All my neighbours installed grilles. I stayed there until 1994 and we get so use to it and there was no break ins. But other neighbours with grilles were broken in.

The psychological explanation is simple, this guy is either tough or too poor to break in and rob. I just got back from Perth
and all the houses do not have grilles. I ask my son what happen if an aborigine break in. He said there are cases but they just take whatever and you are not suppose to harm him. So do not have valuables in the house. Take care

[lbn]

It's good to install good smoke detectors - with audible siren besides fire extinguishers.

[Mat Bruce]

Have anybody try to live in a house in Subang jaya without iron grilles and windows. I did. It may take a while to get accustomed to it. In 1986, I was very down and bought a unit in SS 19/6 , a very compact house offered to staffs of Sime UEP.
All my neighbours installed grilles. I stayed there until 1994 and we get so use to it and there was no break ins. But other neighbours with grilles were broken in.

The psychological explanation is simple, this guy is either tough or too poor to break in and rob. I just got back from Perth
and all the houses do not have grilles. I ask my son what happen if an aborigine break in. He said there are cases but they just take whatever and you are not suppose to harm him. So do not have valuables in the house. Take care

My house has no grills. Only 2 dogs and a good alarm and CCTV. The dogs are in case anyone accidentally come near the gate. Ask them first before can come in.

[opulant]

... I just got back from Perth and all the houses do not have grilles. I ask my son what happen if an aborigine break in. He said there are cases but they just take whatever and you are not suppose to harm him. So do not have valuables in the house.

If I read correctly, residents are not allowed to harm the aborigines even they are caught intruding your house and taking something away !!

Quite scarry, isn't it ??

[Jennylim]

The panic room is designed to take escape route/time into consideration. Normally, it is nearest to the master bedroom or inside the master bedroom (if the master bedroom is downstairs)

The panic room is equipped with phone line to buzz the security company and to call the police in case you forgot to bring your mobile phone with you.There is an underground storage inside the room to keep important documents, valuables and some little secrets . In the event of fire, underground storage is the only safe place..

It would be nice if you have a small wine chiller inside the panic room and a comfy chair. Imagine having a glass of nice wine while waiting for the police to arrive to catch the blurred burglars. ..

It won't be a problem also if the intruders know you are hiding inside the panic room because it is designed not to be broken in. Just make sure all your loved ones (including your pets) are inside the room, and then enjoy the show...

Somehow remind me of Saddam Hussein and atrocities in Indo.

[pcyeoh]

I was not aware of the fire as I was off Facebook on that day. I saw the yellow tape with FORENSIK around it from afar so I thought it was a crime scene. As I drove past the house, I noticed that the ground floor was so badly charred.

I decided to stop to have a look and that was where I spoke to one of the nephews who was holding a bunch of flowers. I expressed my deepest sympathies to the family. He then told me the deceased was his uncle who was a real estate agent and bought the house 8 years ago. The uncle spent about RM20,000 to rewire the whole house. When the forensic people suspected short circuit to be the most likely cause of the fire, some people around me could not believe it as they thought the electrical system have been upgraded. But I strongly believed the new rewiring to be the prime suspect.

I once spent 6 months working with my USJ contractor friend doing renovation work and servicing airconditioners. In my line of work I found that when people are not knowledgeable, the contractor will short changed them by using substandard electrical wires to bring down their cost. In this case instead of copper wires, they could have used the copper alluminium alloy which is not a good conductor of heat.

I also noticed that the upper floor were heavily grilled and became a death trap. Their Malay neighbours told me that they could hear them screaming for help but there was nothing anyone could do as they couldn't force open the grill and the inferno downstairs was unbearable.I suspected that there must be a lot of furniture on the ground floor to cause a big inferno. The family members could have saved themselves if they had soaked their blankets and wrapped around their faces and stayed in the bathroom to buy time. I was told that the 2 boys could have slept through and died in their sleep as their room doors was locked from inside. The father died when he was overcome by thick smoke while trying to save them.

Again from my six months experience in servicing airconditioners, there were times when we had to access the outdoor compressors, 4 out of 10 house owners could not locate their keys for us to climb out through their grilled windows. For those who gave us the keys, 30% of the time we couldn't unlock as the locks have rusted. And you wouldn't believe if I were to tell you when I offered to cut their locks for free, they refused my offer. All of them said they didn't know when they would go to a DIY shop to buy a new lock and in the meantime they could not risk having unlocked windows. I just shook my head when people treasure their security more than their safety.

How to help such people? So kiasu but never kiasi.

[bslee]

I've never grilled up my master bedroom window (aluminum) and the side window may serve as my escape route. I always bare this in mind for my own safety. Other homes along my row have all grilled up...hope nothing happen.
Countless other homes have permanent Naco louvered windows and certainly no exit other than the room door. Grill or no grill its a death trap.

[Naka]

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Countless other homes have permanent Naco louvered windows and certainly no exit other than the room door. Grill or no grill its a death trap.

Can you force the Naco Louvered windows open, they are only small iron bars?

[opulant]

Somehow remind me of Saddam Hussein and atrocities in Indo.

Not sure how a panic room/safe room can remind you of saddam hussein and the atrocities committed by indon military on the indonesian Chinese....

A safe room or panic room is a fortified room that is installed in a private residence or business premise to provide a safe shelter, or hiding place. The origin of safe room came from The U.S. State Department to provide an interim safe shelter inside the residences of members overseas when they are living in cities with a high crime threat. The concept of a safe room is not limited as protection to home invasion, it is also designed as safe shelter in the event of tornado and terror attack.

They are quite a fair bit of residences in upmarket neighborhood here which have a panic room inside the house. Of course, no one will tell his/her house has such facility..

[opulant]

…..I also noticed that the upper floor were heavily grilled and became a death trap. Their Malay neighbours told me that they could hear them screaming for help but there was nothing anyone could do as they couldn't force open the grill and the inferno downstairs was unbearable. I suspected that there must be a lot of furniture on the ground floor to cause a big inferno. The family members could have saved themselves if they had soaked their blankets and wrapped around their faces and stayed in the bathroom to buy time. I was told that the 2 boys could have slept through and died in their sleep as their room doors was locked from inside. The father died when he was overcome by thick smoke while trying to save them..

1. The two boys were died in their sleep after inhaling excessive smoke.

2. The father succumbed to the smoke and died from smoke inhalation while trying to save the two boys. His body was found near to the room of the two boys.

So, the two boys were not aware of the fire and died in sleep.. and their loving father died inhaling the smoke while trying to awake them. Now, can you tell me how the boys and the father could have saved themselves if they had soaked their blankets and wrapped around their faces and stayed in the bathroom to buy time... ??

I think it is good not to be an expert after this tragedy, and refrain to give your opinion/speculation about furrniture on ground floor and how they can survive if they do this or do that.

Let the deceased rest in place, this is the minimum respect to the deceased.

[bslee]

Can you force the Naco Louvered windows open, they are only small iron bars?

You could break the glass panes but not go through the horizontal bars which are half inch round steel bars spaced 6" apart through the wood frame. Its not generally possible to wedge them apart and try to escape through this kind of louvered window design. It would take more than a crowbar to create enough space for escape. Maybe I suggest you inspect a typical Naco window framework when you're back in Malaysia.
More than a decade ago, I fully DIY dismantled a 3 section Naco window frame assembly to replace to aluminum sliding window at my kitchen. It was very very tough work to break everything apart and eventually dispose it.

Sad to read another similar tragedy at Kepong. Similar 2 storey terrace home.
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/natio...ng-house-fire/