KAPIT: Last year Kapit recorded four fire cases. Three were in Song district and one was here. The first fire which was in April destroyed 39-door Rumah Lorrie, a semi-concrete longhouse at Nanga Ibau, Batang Rajang in Kapit district. It made 236 people homeless.
The second fire destroyed 32-door Rumah Dagum, a longhouse at Nanga Makut, Katibas, Song on September 25. It left 297 people homeless.
Then there was the fire that razed Rumah Bada, a longhouse at Sungai Song in early October. And on Dec 13, a fire destroyed a stand-alone house that belonged to Councillor Rose Demon Simpang.
Whenever a house is razed to the ground, it is one fire too many by any stretch of the imagination. Yet it appears that fires have destroyed houses and longhouses in Kapit Division on quite a regular basis. To put this into perspective, here is a chronology of the fires since 2010.
2010 – 3 cases (2 in Song and 1 in Kapit)
June 20 – Rumah Jabat at Nanga Lian, Sungai Katibas, Song
July 24 – Former Tuai Rumah Lulut, an 18-door concrete longhouse at Sungai Tisa, Yong in Kapit district. The fire rendered 18 families homeless.
July 26 – Rumah Kulleh Moari, a 40-door wooden longhouse at Nanga Embuau, Batang Rajang in Song district. Some 40 families became homeless.
2013 – 3 cases (2 in Song and 1 in Kapit)
April 23 – Rumah Kilau, a 33-door wooden longhouse at Nanga Lijau, Batang Rajang in Song district. Two persons died in the fire.
May 10 – Rumah Agan at Jalan Bukit Goram in Kapit district. The fire left 30 families homeless
October 10 – Rumah Penghulu Galau Anak Melina, a 20-door concrete longhouse at Sungai Musah, Katibas in Song district. Twenty families were made homeless
2014 – 1 case in Kapit
In March – Rumah Nuang at Sungai Kapit, 1.5km point at Jalan Bukit Goram. Thirteen families of 40 people became homeless.
2015 – 1 case in Kapit
In October – Rumah Jelanie Anak Tagie at Nanga Sama, Batang Rajang. Two families of 10 people were made homeless.
2016 – 1 case in Belaga
In May – Uma Badeng, an Orang Ulu longhouse at Bakun Resettlement Scheme in Sungai Asap, Belaga.
2017 – 1 case at Kapit
In January – Rumah Tani Kudi at Tunoh Resettlement Scheme in Bukit Mabong District. The fire left 15 families of 75 people homeless.
