BY VINCENT TAN and SHALINI RAVINDRAN

An overhead shot taken by the Selangor Fire and Rescue Department drone of a fire in Kampung Pandan recently. The photo shows how densely-packed the extensions are. This is one of the main reasons a fire can spread to nearby units very fast.

A REPORT by the Selangor Fire and Rescue Department’s forensics division states that use of non-standard electrical equipment and additional electrical wiring in renovated homes constituted 38% out of the 1,197 fires in the state last year.

The department’s assistant director Datuk Zakaria Muhd said some older homes run the risk of having a fire due to old wiring or improper installations.

Another main factor, he added was due to the tightly-spaced houses and presence of flammable materials.

“You get hot gasses and heat rising vertically until they hit the extensions’ roof or awning, then these start spreading side ways.

Fires at apartments and condominiums only recorded 107 cases while shops, 51 cases.

The same report found that primary factors for house fires included carelessness by the residents, poor attention to fire prevention and safety, and lack of knowledge on how to save oneself in a fire.

Zooming in on the Kampung Pandan area, five fires have taken place in just seven months destroying nearly 20 houses and killing one senior citizen.

All the fires have been blamed on illegal extension of houses, bad electrical wiring and the use of substandard wires.

Kampung Pandan villagers and contractors clearing the rubble of one of the houses that burnt down last month.

Cempaka assemblyman Datuk Iskandar Abdul Samad, whose constituency included Kampung Pandan, said old wiring that was unable to withstand the electrical load could also cause a fire.

“In one of these fires, the cause was a renovated semi-detached house.

“The owner rented it out to others to put their stalls out front, but one stall caught fire and it spread to other stalls and to the house,” said Iskandar.

Homeowners or residents, he added, need to frequently check their houses’ wiring to ensure they are installed according to specifications.

“People think they are saving money by not checking their wiring regularly or hiring less qualified people to do the installation due to being cheaper. But it is not worth suffering bigger losses or even losing your lives in a fire,” he added.

Iskandar also called on the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ) to be more stringent and proactive on enforcement against residents for illegal extensions.

“When you create illegal extensions without taking into account the extra electrical usage, a fire can occur,” he said.

However, there are legal limits for the council in enforcing building by-laws against homeowners with illegal extensions.

Moreover, with Kampung Pandan’s proximity to Kuala Lumpur, the demand for rooms is high.

Homeowners have taken the opportunity to renovate, add more rooms and rent them out.

MPAJ can issue a compliance notice for errant homeowners to rectify their building, according to council guidelines, and most times, the latter complied.

“If they do not, the homeowners can be brought to court, and if the decision goes against the owner, they will either be fined or told to demolish their extension,” said the council’s Buildings and Architecture Department director Ahmad Alhairi Mohamed Yusuf.

Ahmad said there were no cases of homeowners being asked to tear down their extension.

In one survey by the council, 42 homes along Jalan Pandan Kemajuan A were found to have illegally extended their structure.

To tackle the issue, the council had a year-long exercise to help the houseowners obtain permit for their illegal extensions. It will end on May 31.

However, it has received poor response, with only 29 applications sent in. None of the applications were from Kampung Pandan.

The safest way, rather than adding extensions to old structures and wiring, Ahmad said, was to totally redevelop the house with permission and technical advice from the council.

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