Fire: A good servant, but a bad master!

TO quote an old proverb: ‘Prevention is better than cure’ – a vintage wisdom, often quoted but not always practised.

The Fire and Rescue Department, popularly known as Bomba, is to be commended for its initiative in forming the Kelab Bomba Cilik.

The programme has a specific aim: involvement of children as low as five years old as members.

This is quite in line with the great philosophical sayings like ‘melentur buloh biarlah dari rebung-nya’ (the sapling is bent, so shall the tree grow).

Members of the ‘kelab’ come together regularly to learn anything new or the latest in fire prevention, as well as in the proper maintenance of the fire extinguishers and other fire-fighting assets.

Over time, the habit of perpetual preparedness will hopefully become second nature to the members.

In the event of a spark which is likely to develop into a conflagration, everybody will know exactly what to do.

No panicking, no delay. No confusion.

What a practicable concept!

What about adopting that idea of this club to the people living in the longhouses, villages and bazaars?

At present, there already exists at every longhouse in Sarawak a body called Village Security and Development Committee (JKKK), which is responsible for matters relating to the healthcare, economic development and security of that community.

Fire prevention is an important responsibility of that committee.

Longhouse fires

For many years, ideas on how to prevent longhouse fires have been discussed by the people in authority and the policymakers, while the victims are trying to cope with the trauma the best they can.

To prevent a fire, the architecture of the longhouse and materials used for its construction are a major consideration.

Consultants, architects and builders of public housing should know all the necessary details.

I have nothing better to add to their expertise.

In terms of fire prevention, the ‘kelab’ should also be entrusted with the responsibility of determining the sources of water, e.g. a running stream; or else, if there is no river or stream close to the longhouse or the village, a water storage tank should be built.

In a bazaar, there is a fire hydrant; check regularly that it actually works.

In fact, most fire stations are located in towns.

In the event of fire in a longhouse that is not accessible by a motorable road, such a house is a foregone write-off. People are lucky if there is no loss of life!

For example, a fire broke out at Rumah Liun of Nanga Pangai, Sungai Ibau, in Kapit.

According to the media report (The Borneo Post – Oct 14, 2025) the fire had totally destroyed the building before the Bomba was notified by the chieftain, who had to go to the station because there was no instant communication between him and the Bomba in Kapit.

The fire broke out at 2.30am, but the Bomba wasn’t informed until 10am.

Not surprising, the old wooden structure was completely burnt to the ground by then.

How do fires start anyway?

I mean, accidental, of course; arson is a different story.

We often hear that fires are started by children.

Not out of bad intention, or naughtiness.

A child is always curious.

Everything is a toy. A match struck produces instant fire is an interesting toy indeed.

See how children love letting off firecrackers.

The boys in my village received our lesson in fire prevention from the village elders.

They warned us not to ‘main mancis’ (not to play with the matches) because our trousers might catch fire (I admit, I often ran around the village in a state of nature, saving the trousers for school).

We were warned not to play with matches near the ‘kelambu’ / ’kibong’ (mosquito net) because the fire might burn the net and ‘your mum will spank you’.

After the Japanese Occupation of Sarawak ended in August 1945, the Australian troops administering Sarawak under the auspices of the British Administration distributed to our village food stuff: corned beef, sardines, nuts, sugar, salt and safety matches.

The boys in my village were fond of hunting animals even though they seldom caught wild boar or deer.

They shot squirrels and the mousedeer for the meat, and monkeys for the fun of killing them.

The matches came in handy because they were the main component of gunpowder.

We boys manufactured gunpowder during the Japanese occupation and were told by the police to stop manufacturing the ‘seterom’ (cartridges).

Buy them from the District Office. For the ‘peluru’ (pellets), we converted the metal weights of the ‘jala’ (fishing nets).

Any wonder why we kids were not allowed to handle the fishing nets!

We were told to go fishing in the jungle at night using the method called ‘tajur’ with worms as bait attached to the metal hooks on a wooden pole.

In the jungle, we learned the technique of making fire once we ran out of matches.

Smoke from the fire would scare away the nasty mosquitoes.

When we caught a lot of fish, we ‘salai’ (smoke-dry) them. We lived off the fish when we ran out of rice.

Matches are most essential in the jungle.

Necessity is the mother of invention. Two pieces of dry wood are rubbed against each other for several minutes until smoke, followed by a spark, is produced.

Ask anybody who was a soldier in the Malaysian Rangers for a tip on how to produce fire in the jungle.

Which brings me back to the beginning: fire is a good servant, but a very bad master!