THE school fire which claimed the lives of 23 pupils and teachers of the Pusat Tahfiz Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah earlier today was not the worst in Malaysian history.

The ignominious record belongs to a fire that destroyed the Taufiqiah Al-Khairiah Madrasa, also known as Pondok Pak Ya in Kedah in 1989, where 27 pupils died.

That fire was reportedly started from a candle. The fire also destroyed eight hostel blocks. All 27 victims were buried at a special plot near the school.  

There has also been a series of fires that gutted religious schools, with the most recent death in 2013 where a pupil was killed when a tahfiz school burnt down in Tikam Batu, Sg Petani.

There were 5,485 fires involving buildings last year, according to data from the Fire and Rescue Department. Of that figure, 21 school hostels were destroyed, along with 68 other schools (secondary, primary and kindergarten). 

The data does not indicate how many of them involved religious schools. A total of 107 deaths were recorded last year, in addition to 477 injuries, according to the department.

In May, Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Noh Omar said 30 of the 1,785 building fires this year involved tahfiz, pondok schools, and madrasah, with losses totalling RM1.4 million.

A total of 57% of fires at home were caused by electrical short-circuits or the wrong usage of electrical items, according to director-general of the department Wan Mohd Nor Ibrahim.

All homes should be equipped with at least a fire extinguisher and smoke detectors, Wan said during the department’s AGM in January. 

However, at present, there are no laws forcing households to install fire safety equipment.

Deaths from fire dropped by 30% from 153 in 2015 to 107 last year. The total value of items and property destroyed in fires dropped to RM2.9 billion last year from RM4.4 billion previously. – September 14, 2017.