Fire dept probes Wisma Jakel over fire certification

SHAH ALAM - The Fire and Rescue Department is in the midst of probing Wisma Jakel's building here that caught fire recently if had a fire certificate.

The department's Selangor state director Datuk Norazam Khamis said the famous local garment and textile department store was first struck with fire on Jan 1 morning and again on Jan 3 just after midnight.

Norazam told Sinar Daily that the probe over the fire certificate is on-going as he needs to review certain requirements.

On the cause of the second fire at the store's curtain fabric storage room, he said that they are in the midst of carrying out an in-depth study and it will be completed within 14 days.

Besides 43 officers, the Fire Department's Tracker Dog Unit (K9) were also mobilised at the scene.

In addition to that, the fire department will also summon witnesses or individuals who recorded videos that has gone viral over the second fire incident to assist the investigation.

Last Dec 16, FMT quoting Norazam said 789 premises or 47% of buildings in Selangor were operating without a fire certificate (FC). This included 394 factories, 129 office buildings, 117 warehouses, and 67 retail outlets such as supermarkets, grocery stores and shopping centres.

Apart from that, 37 hotels, 22 hostels, 17 hospitals and treatment centres, five places of gatherings such as multipurpose halls and clubhouses and one library were also found to be without a fire certificate, it further reported.

Building owners need to have the certificate to confirm that the fire safety system in their premises is working properly and is able to detect fires, issue warnings, and in some cases extinguish fires automatically.

Among reasons given by building owners for not possessing a fire certificate include being unaware of the need for the certificate and having insufficient financial resources to maintain the fire safety system.

He advised owners of premises to get a certificate to avoid a legal action and being fined not more than RM50,000 or imprisoned for up to five years or both.

Newly-identified premises that did not have the certificate were given a 30-day grace period to hand in required documents to the fire and rescue department.