Thursday, March 18, 2010

The Fire

I don't know how to start this entry. I am traumatized, I am sad, I am grieved, I am angry and these gamut of emotions have started to take a toll on me today - day two of the aftermath.

Many (especially friends who are linked on FB) would have known by now that there was a fire in our home early yesterday morning. Kebakaran yang besar, never had I seen such fierce flames within such a close distance. Before I move on to relate about what happened, I have this to say, syukur pada Allah that everyone in the family is safe. We understand this is a dugaan dari Nya, kami terima dengan pasrah dan InshaAllah ada hikmah di sebalik kejadian awal pagi semalam itu.

It was early Wednesday morning, I was still making final checks on the documents I was supposed to bring with me for my trip to Penang that day. Dalam pada meng-copy docs to my pen drive, sempat juga ber-FB chat with Ummi and Lyana (about the cow she release from her FV in FB). Happy mood...happy to be starting a fresh day, walaupun penat dari weekend stint in Kertau still ada. But work...that's how things lah.

Then suddenly, I didn't feel good, my tummy was aching, my stomach muscle was experiencing spasms and it was so, so painful. I went into the kitchen, searched for my gastric pills and Bescopan for the pain relief. Really funny feeling, infact I have never experienced such a bad pain. My only guess was gastric coz itu je penyakit yang berkaitan with my stomach yang I tau lah.

It was 1.45am when I finally hit the sack.

Bescopan had obviously put me to slumber in no time, though I could still feel the spasms, it was nonetheless a relief. However, my relief and comfort didn't last long and what happened afterwards is still playing fresh on my mind till now.

I thought I was dreaming when I heard Farah saying this to me, "Mama...bangun ada api kat belakang!!" In my slumber I thought again....mimpi ker, betul ker?? Then her voice turned like a cry, "Mamaaaaaaaaa apiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii....."

I jumped out of bed and ran towards her. Ya Allah......memang ada fire out side our house; I could see it from the dining room window. Ran into the room again, shouted (sorry lah....darurat tak kenal coutesies) at Abe to wake up. As I grabbed my BB I yelled at him, "Dy got fire kat porch tu!!!" He got up, ran to the back and next thing I saw him doing was scrambling looking for the fire extinguisher. Dalam pada panic tu....BOTH of us tak sempat nak cari our glasses and were running like two blind bats!!!!

Farah was already panicking, I told her to go wake up Faris, Nissa and Bibik upstairs. Abe was trying to put off the fire from inside (when the fire source was actually outside). Panic...panic..panic...!! We were like stunned and couldn't think straight at that point in time.

Then Abe screamed at me, "Go get the keys, open the grill and the door, I have to go out!!" I ni dalam tak nampak nyer, pi cari house keys and somehow managed to open the side door that lead to our side porch where the fire started. It was biggggg....it was hot....and it was blazingggggg!!! At that time, dah rasa Ya Allah....this is it...habis lah...memang kami akan ditimpa musibah yang dahsyat.

Then Faris came down, still so mamai-mamai from his sleep. I told him, "Go help Daddy...go help Daddy!!" I ran out to call the Fire Department. Dialled 999 and was connected to a lady. She asked me for details, thank God, or else I would have just froze there. Nak bagi info pun tak tau nak bagi apa, I was shaking by then, my voice was in between screams and cries. She repeated my house address twice till I confirmed it correct. My head went blank.....

Done with the call, I ran into the house again to look for the girls. Tak kan lah dah 10 mins tak turun-turun lagi!!! Then I saw Nissa & Farah, and not long after that Bibik came down. By then I realized that I didn't have my glasses, so I ran into the room for them. The whole house was full of smoke, and I saw the fire dah almost as high as the ciling. Allahhu Akbar...Allahhu Akbar....Allahhu Akbar....I recited sekuat hati as I dashed into the house. Dalam hati....Ya Allah...aku pasrah...aku pasrah atas apa yang berlaku ini. Got my glasses and ran out again.

By then a police patrol car was already in front of the house. The two officers asked if Bomba was already here, I said no...even though I had made the call like 5 mins ago. Then there were screams from the girls....

I almost fainted when I saw Faris carrying the cage of our cats. From Farah's and Nissa's cries I knew what could have happened. I pulled Nissa, hugged her and told her not to look. Luna and Merci...... they were motionless.

Then Faris came with another cage with Chitty and Chomel in it. I said to myself, Ya Allah....please..please....spare them, please...these cats tak berdosa!!! We saw Chomel take his last breath and Chitty was sitting quietly at one corner. She was breathing like normal, infact when we called her, she responded. When we flashed the light at her, we saw she had burnts just above her eyes. Really scarry looking.....nampak kulit dia. But she was such a brave cat...tak scream, nothing...she just kept quiet.

I ran to the back again to check on Faris and Abe. By then they had managed to put out the fire. How they did it was a real miracle. It was such a big one and they fought it with water from our washing hose and rain water from the tempayan. Apparently Faris had thrown buckets of the rain water to prevent the fire from spreading to other parts of the house. Alhamdullilah.....syukur...syukur......

Then we heard the fire truck pulling in. Some guys came and asked about the fire and we told them, we managed to put it out. One guy when assesing the fire site later said this to Abe, "Abang padamkan sendiri??" Abe said, "Iyer...saya tak fikir apa...I used whatever yang ada and tried to control the blaze." Macam cerita super hero pun ader gak bunyi nyer......

The fire guys checked for other possible hot spots, and things looked ok. Then they asked questions on how it started....so I had to cerita lagi. Ealier dah cerita to the policemen.

It was a good one hour of panic and commotions. Both police and Bomba left once they confirmed that everything was safe. We had our neighbours coming to check on us too. Abe called the power guys to get them to check electricity in the house. The power had gone off some 5 minutes after the blaze started. They came but they said they couldn't do much and advised that we get a wireman to do the checks. I must say their answer somewhat intimidated Abe; iyer lah...how could another warga kerja be so uncompassionate di masa others in need. I heard him saying to the two young chaps, "Saya pun orang TNB jugak....." Tapi budak-budak tu buat selamba je...well...I guess they were just doing their job. And perhaps when they got their distress call, no one pun yg bagi tau...err by the way, that house you are heading to is a guy from TNB. No such thing lahkan......

So that was how it happened. Apparently, the fire started from our old sofa which was placed at the porch area. Sofa is there for kids to lepak while playing with the cats. What caused the sofa catch fire, we still have to get answers from the Bomba guys. They are yet to ascertain the cause.

I have many unanswered questions running through my mind since yesterday. How could a sofa out of blue be blazing away? Did some one set fire to it? If there was, who? Foul play?? And why??? Are there people out there who don't like us to the extent of wanting to cause hurt upon us??? In both my line of duty and Abe's too, are there people who are upset with us over the decisions we have made......

There are just to many Qs popping up now; dah jadi pening and bengong to think about it.

Anyway, the condition of the house is better today. Power we got back early yesterday morning. Abe yang jadi wireman sendiri; he cut of the supply from the affected area and the power came back. We had finished cleaning up the mess, wiped cleaned the floors, the walls, the bookshelves, infact everything that was in contact with the smoke and soot from the blaze. The downstairs curtains are already dried and we will hang them later today.

Faris has gone back to his practical office today. Abe is still on MC - he suffered second degree burns on his back. I am on leave; a rare thing that I do, but I know everyone has to be together to recover from the trauma that we had.

If I have the courage, I'll post pictures of the area that caught fire. We'll see how.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all friends and family who have shown so much love, given lots of encouraging messages words and support during this trying times. Tiada balasan yang dapat kami berikan, hanya lah Tuhan sahaja yang dapat membalasnya.

Thank you from the very bottom of our hearts.

38 comments:

MrsNordin said...

I read the part about the cats and tears streamed down my eyes again. It's just so sad, Kay...

It'll take time for you to get over the trauma, but take comfort in the fact that you've given them the best and they are probably looking down at you from heaven now.

Cats are just like family... cry if you like. It's ok.

Take care.

kay_leeda said...

MrsN,

Thanks for being on the other end yesterday listening to my cries. We are still in tears when we look at the cage. We know they'll go one day, but going this way.....

Alhamdullilah...we were on our road to recovery. Will take some time, never mind, coz we have each other.

mamasita said...

Hai Kay..shocked and sedih berair airmata I baca your entry..
Syukur Alhamdullillah you all semua tak apa2 but I am sad to hear about the cats..

No more sofas or anything inflammable in the porch area okay..

Hope ABE cepat sihat from the mild burns..

Will visit you soon..you kena buat baca doa selamat kat rumah cepat2 or sedekah something kat masjid buat tolak bala..take care yea.

Unknown said...

alhamdulillah you all selamat kay... but i sedih the cats died...

I hv a soft spot for cats too... what caused the sofa to be on fire sis? bomba dah bagi tau?

Kak Ezza@makcik Blogger said...

walau pun malam tadi you dah cerita segala nya, but reading this make me in tears again..
Agak nya lah Kay..ada orang nak cuba pecah masuk rumah you tu..tapi tak dapat..dah geram agak nya dia buang putung rokok tu kat sofa tu...lagi pun rumah you kat tepi kan....

Bersabar lah...semuaga Zul pulih dari melecur tu dan you selkeluarha pulih dari trauma...
Allah sentiasa bersama orang yang sabar....

budak~sengal said...

Thank God ur family xde pape puan..
sedih saye bace ur entry..felt like i was there..i cant imagine d real thing..
=(

u take care ya..im sure merci,luna n chomel dah kat cat's heaven praying for your family's safety..

b strong puan..

Kama At-Tarawis said...

Ya Allah, Kay.. Thank God you and family takder apa2 yg major. My heart goes out to you about the cats.. Ya Allah, sedihnya..

Naz in Norway said...

Salam Kay,
I was so shocked to read you FB update malam tu. Alhamdulillah all of you are OK.
How are the kids coping?

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Kay,
My heart goes out to you and yours. As for the cats, words can't describe how I feel. And we were just making jokes about you becoming grandma again if you don't send Chitty to the vets soon. I hope she'll recover from her injuries soon. Come, let me give you a big hug, OK? mmmmwwwwaaaahhhhhh.... purrr....meow!

kay_leeda said...

Dear Mamasita,

Dah tak de sofa dah nak letak kat situ lepas ni. We'll have to clean up the area, have it repaired, wall re-plastered and painted. Infact, the most walls in the house has got to be re-treated. Perhaps it's better that way, so that we are not too much reminded of what happened.

Abe is recovering, some patches of the burn dah kering. Alhamdulillah for that.

Buat doa selamat, InshaAllah. Memang dah terfikir nak buat, thanks for reminding jugak :)

kay_leeda said...

Dear RG,

Believe it of not, after their visit to come put off the fire, Bomba has not made their appearance anymore. Kata nak datang, but dah two hari and still waiting for them.

So, your guess is as good as mine. Hubby went to their office again today. Let's hope they come tomorrow coz I really wanna get the repair works to start soon.

Thanks for dropping by Dalilah. Hope you are feeling better too. InshaAllah, we all doa for kesejahteraan & kesihatan semua yes :)

kay_leeda said...

Dear Kak Ezza,

Alhamdulillah, we are recovering from the trauma. The girls are talking about the fire, but in a more positive way. Dok cerita, how to clean up the hse and the area affected. I'm glad they are snapping out fast.

Nissa is playing the piano again today. She looks okay, but I knw deep down, she's missing Merci. She told me just now yg nama sebenar dia bagi Merci adalah Wan Mercia Zulrauf. Okay lah....she's progressing :)

kay_leeda said...

Hi Lenni a.k.a budak sengal,

We were so sad semalam after it happened. Macam-macam rasa sebenarnya. Takut ader, sedih ader...mixed feelings about what happened.

Yes...the cats are safe in their world now. Bila teringat air mata mengalir...but have to terima kenyataan that they are no longer with us.

kay_leeda said...

Dear Kak Puteri,

Thanks for your text message. Yes...our hearts go out for the three. Tak boleh nak kata how shattered is Nissa. Tapi budak ni tak show sangat, and that somewhat worries me. We've been talking to her, and adalah she opens up sikit. Slowly lah...coz we know she must be having a tough time accepting what had happened too.

kay_leeda said...

Dear Naz,

You were the first to respond to my FB update. Thanks dear friend for being there with us, walaupun jauh beribu batu. We really appreciate it.

Kids are coping well. Makan & minum dah like always. They are also talking about the fire, their feelings when it happened. Good progress..Alhamdulillah.

kay_leeda said...

Dear CatIS,

Thanks for the bigggg hug. We feel better now.

Chitty is at the vet getting treatments for the burns. We'll bring her home tomorrow. Can't wait to have her jumping up & down in the house again :)

Forest 2 Sea Adventures said...

glad that things start to be ok again...hope xde la org nak kenakan u satu keluarga...nauzubillah...

lyana

Tommy Yewfigure said...

Dear Kay,

Sorry to hear about this drama & the cats. Having gone through this bad experience, have you guys thought about having some home fire extinguishers / smoke alarms at home in strategic places and it might be a good idea to have a fire drill planned for the family too. Knowing how fortified Malaysian homes are, have you got alternative exit routes? Are all the family important documents stored away in a safe fire proof cabinets/safe? Ya lor so many things to think about, better safe than sorry. Normally it takes an incident like this, for us to take precautionary measures. Treat this as a wake up call. All the other makciks, take note too, don't play2 when it comes to fire!!

Hehehe this is the Ultra - Kiasu in me speaking :))

Salam,
Tommy

tireless mom said...

Sis,

U are still on leave ke tomorrow? Buzz if you need anything. Alim was asking lots of questions on it after we visited you all. Catch his side of story on his blog.

alimerfan said...

hi aunty!

panjangnye cerita.

kenapa yang is a a guy from TNB tu ada dua a.

kenapa kaknissa lambat bangun hari tu kaknissa tido mati ke.

alim dah buat pasal aunty punya rumah terbakar dalam blog alim.

macam mana uncle punya belakang boleh kena api?

dan alim dah buat blog list alim letak nama aunty punya blog dalam tu.

tengok la alim punya blog.

bye aunty!

kay_leeda said...

Dear Lyana,

THAT is one thing constant replay on my mind. Adakah?? Siapakah?? Mengapakah?? Ada beberapa possibilities, but due to its confidentiality, I am not to disclose any info here.

Having said that, Alhamdullilah, we are okay.

kay_leeda said...

Dear Tommy,

Thanks for your checklist. We have started ours as soon as the head was clear to think again yesterday. Most of our important docs are safely stored somewhere. I've asked hubby to go get replacement fire extinguishers coz we used up all that we had that night. The fire drill is a very good thought. Will definitely do that. Infact you are giving lots of good and useful ideas. Thank you...thank you!! Next Makciks meet we must share this.

No worries about being kiasu, it's a good trait. I am kiasu at times too.

kay_leeda said...

Sis,

I hope to go into the office tomorrow. Let's hope I'm up to it in the morning. Takut gak nak leave the girls at home. Must make a point to run thru some safety measures with them.

Other than my bouts of headaches, I'm okay dah.

Will take a look at Alim's story :)

kay_leeda said...

My dear AlimErfan :)

Panjang lah cerita nya coz nak bagi tau dari awal hingga akhir.

Thanks for highlighting my typo. Aunty dah betul kan dah :)

Kak Nissa memang kalau tido susah nak bangun, macam Alim jugak kan...heh...heh.

Uncle punya belakang kena fire masa dia nak selamatkan Chitty & the other cats. Alhamdulillah dah nak baik dah.

Aunty will take a look at Alim's blog okay :)

Ummi365 said...

Salam kak kay,

Glad to hear that everything is okay with all of you. Rasa macam tak percaya je when i read your status. Alhamdulillah semua selamat. As for the cats, they are in better place now. Take care kak.

Memorable trails... said...

Salam Kay,
First time here..tapi baca your post tergerak nak komen..
Yalah...siapa jangka when everything is ok at home,after checking this and that making sure all safe,taking precautions,musibah tetap berlaku..kuasa yg maha esa...hanya DIA yg mengetahui hikmah sebaliknya.
I can imagine the chaotic scene but I salute you still can think and act at that time..Kalau I mungkin froze dah..Syukur everybody selamat.
Kena buat doa kesyukuran ni...

AuntieYan said...

Salam Kay,

Alhamdulillah syukur you sekeluarga dilindungi Allah dan harap your Abe dah semakin sembuh.

Benarlah kata orang, api, kecil sebagai kawan dah besar jadi lawan. Auntie membaca cerita you pun rasa kecut perut.

Sama-sama kita doakan semoga Allah selamatkan kita dari musibah. Insyaallah apa yang terjadi ada hikmahnya.

Kak Teh said...

kay, sorry kak teh terlambat. Am so sorry to hear what happened, tapi Alhamdulillah semua selamat. Most sofas now ada fireproof. have you heard anything from the fire brigade abt what caused it?

Anyway, tak care.

kay_leeda said...

Dear Madam Gold,

Memang panik jugak, terketar-ketar nak act jugak that night. But Alhamdulillah we managed to pull thru. Bila ingatkan semula bagai mimpi ngeri.

Kenduri kesyukuran...InshaAllah we'll do it once dah settle with what is to be done buat masa ni.

Thanks for dropping by & yr concerns.

kay_leeda said...

Dear Auntie Yan,

Luka melecur on my husband dah beransur baik. Kesian jugak bila menengok nya. Kami menerima dugaan dari Nya dengan redha. Like you said, InshaAllah ada lah hikmat disebalik apa yg telah berlaku.

Thanks Auntie for dropping by.

kay_leeda said...

Dear Ummi,

Alhamdulillah we are getting our semangat back. Lepas it happened, maca-macam rasa ada. Nak demam, nak pengsan...semua ada rasa!!

And another reason to celebrate is one of our cats yg selamat telah melahirkan pagi ni. Three beautiful babies :) Dia maha kaya, Dia mengambil & Dia juga yg memberi, InshaAllah.

kay_leeda said...

Dear Kak Teh,

One of the things that upsets me is the "no urgency" attitude of the authorities. People from the Fire Dept have not shown up from that time they left us after the fire was put out. Bila call they say, "Officer cuti". Boleh gitu??

Same goes with the police. We lodged a report and when asked if they'll come and investigate. You know what is their bla*dy reply? "Kita tengok dulu..." Sampai now...belum pun mai tengok lagi. It is so FRUSTRATING!! We can't start with any repair works before these peeps give their green light. Now that we have over come the trauma, we have to over come the stress dealing with the authorities pulak...grrr.

hazlin said...

salam kay..
sorry to hear about what happened tapi syukur alhamdulillah family semua selamat.

i know it hurts to lose something that u love walaupun they are just animals. hope all of u esp nissa will get over it.

take care.

Anonymous said...

hai kay,

hope you & your family ok. apa sbb kebakaran?

MHB said...

Ya Allah.. sis, I memang tertinggal keretapi!! Syukur sgt2 everyone is fine (except the cats..sedih!!)... memang traumatised, i can so understand!! Doa banyak2, insya'Allah everything will be ok.. we'll be praying for you and family too..

take care and extra hugs for nissa

kay_leeda said...

Dear Hazlin,

Alhamdulillah, we are fine. It is our prayers too that things will be like normal again.

Thanks for dropping by.

kay_leeda said...

Dear Anon@March 22, 2010 11:47 PM,

You guess is as good as our on the cause of the fire. We are still for report from Bomba.

kay_leeda said...

Dear MHB,

Alhamdulillah, the girls and everyone else in the house are okay. We don't want to think about what happened too much, wanna move on...wanna move on :)