Did coffee-shop assistant Wee Jee Kian,35, die in vain in an early morning shophouse fire in Jalan Petanak, Kuching on August 24?

This is the question posed to the state Fire and Rescue Department chief Law Poh Kiong in an official complaint lodged by Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) state assemblyperson for Padungan Dominique Ng.

The deceased's family members had alleged that firemen had arrived on the scene late and failed to rescue Wee trapped on the top floor of the building in the fire which started at 2.30 am.

Ng had a meeting with officers of the department, including Law, later in the same day of the fire.

The fire brigade located less than half a kilometer away arrived on the scene about an hour after the fire started. According to Ng, quoting family members, a security guard on duty at a nearby building first raised the alarm, and this was followed by a call made at 2.55 to 999 by a relative.

According to the relative, the female operator manning the 999 service failed, as required, to take down the necessary details of the fire or even her name, before the line went dead, either being hung up or disconnected, the assemblyperson said today.

Ng said the deceased's family members and members of the public also complained about the attitude and lack of inefficiency of the firemen on duty.

Despite being informed there was a person who was trapped upstairs, the firemen did not make any rescue attempt, and merely chose to concentrate on putting out the fire, he added.

Firemen afraid

To the family and spectators, Ng said, it appeared that the firemen were afraid to go in and save the life of the man.

The equipment also appeared to be faulty, the opposition elected representative said. One fireman was heard to complain about some problems with his oxygen mask or insufficiency of his oxygen supply so that he could not go up to do rescue.

In the end, it was the family members and some members of the public who went up to bring down the victim, who was dead by then.?

Ng said the Fire and Rescue Department now stands accused of gross negligence and incompetency in its duty to save lives and to effectively fight fires.

He called for a full investigation into the fatal Petanak fire, and hoped the department would do everything to ensure that such an incident would not recur.