A family of seven narrowly escaped a house fire in Kampung Solok Wan Moh, thanks to the unusual actions of a cat that appeared to alert them to the danger.
The fire involved four houses in the village, with several families losing their homes and belongings.
Cat entered the house and took a fish
One of the victims, Muhammad Norsham Bibin, said he was at home with his wife, Widyawati Niban, and their three children. The children were asleep in a room when the incident happened.
According to him, a cat that did not belong to the family suddenly entered their house, grabbed a fish from the table, and carried it outside without eating it.
At first, he did not think much of the situation. However, when he stepped outside to retrieve the fish, he noticed thick smoke coming from a neighbouring house.
‘It felt like the cat was trying to warn us’
Muhammad Norsham said he was deeply moved by the cat’s behaviour, as the animal had never taken food from the table before.
Usually, this cat comes to our house but never touches any food. That day was different. It took the fish as if it wanted to tell us that something bad was happening next door,” he said.
Realising that a fire had broken out, he immediately alerted his wife, and the couple quickly woke their children and rushed them out of the house.
Although the family managed to escape unharmed, they were unable to save any of their belongings.
As reported by Harian Metro, Muhammad Norsham said the fire destroyed their Proton Iswara Aeroback as well as their children’s bicycles and school supplies.
“I am grateful because my family was saved through the cat. If not for that, I do not know what would have happened to us,” he said.
He added that while he accepted the loss of material belongings, the safety of his family mattered most.
Another victim’s POV
Another resident affected by the fire, Mohd Razib Ibrahim, said he only found out about the incident around 10 minutes after leaving his house for work.
My wife and I did not manage to save anything. The only clothes we have left are what we were wearing when we went to work,” he said.
Razib added that there had been an electrical disturbance in his house the night before the fire, which had been resolved at the time.
He said he never expected it to end in such a devastating outcome, having lived in the village for 23 years.
Senior Operations Commander Norazizan Awang from the Penggaram Fire and Rescue Station said 19 firefighters were deployed to the scene after receiving an emergency call at 8.53am.
“The fire involved five houses, with four completely destroyed. Firefighters managed to fully extinguish the fire by 9.20am,” he said.
He added that a car was also destroyed in the blaze, and the operation ended at 10.58am. Investigations into the cause of the fire and the total losses are ongoing.
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