SUNGAI PETANI: Phang Boon Siew and his 51-year-old wife Sar Jit were about to get into bed when they heard the frantic shouts of their neighbours.
As they looked out of the bedroom window of their Kampung Batu 2 house, they realised that their neighbours were shouting for them to leave the house immediately.
It was only then that Phang, 42, realised that their semi-detached house was on fire.
“We managed to grab a few important documents and some clothes, then rushed out and moved our two motorcycles, (but couldn’t save anything else) as the fire was spreading too fast,” he said of the 11.45pm incident.
The fire had started at an unoccupied house next door before spreading to their home.
Phang’s home suffered 40 per cent damage, while the house next door was destroyed. The fire also caused minor damage to another house.
Sungai Petani fire station operations commander Mohd Ridzuan Nut Jamudi said a team was despatched to the scene upon receiving a distress call at 11.49pm.
He said they were assisted by 40 volunteer fire brigade members from Bakar Arang, Bedong, Padang Lembu, Sungai Petani and Semeling.
Ridzuan said investigations were on-going to ascertain the cause of fire.