PETALING JAYA – A fire broke out at the former Employees Provident Fund (EPF) building in Jalan Gasing, Petaling Jaya, on Monday.

The building, which was partly destroyed in a fire five years ago, is located beside the Federal Highway that links Malaysia’s capital city Kuala Lumpur to the Petaling Jaya suburbs and the Selangor capital of Shah Alam.

The Selangor Fire and Rescue Department said it received a distress call at about 10.35am, and dispatched firefighters from the Petaling Jaya, Damansara, Penchala and Puchong fire stations to the scene, reported Malaysiakini.

The Kuala Lumpur Fire and Rescue Department also assisted in the operation.

“The fire occurred on the fourth and fifth floors of the building, and firefighters successfully controlled the blaze at 11.08am,” said Selangor Fire and Rescue Department assistant director Hafisham Mohd Noor.

The EPF is Malaysia’s largest pension fund. In a statement, it said the building is “currently empty and unoccupied”, and no injuries were reported.

EPF said it will investigate the cause of the fire.

The building was meant to reopen in 2024 after EPF signed a 30-year lease with Pacific Senior Living, which planned to open an eldercare facility there, reported Malay Mail.

Pacific Senior Living said on Monday: “We would like to assure the public and residents that we prioritise the safety and well-being of our contractors, staff and the community.”

The same building caught fire in February 2018. There were no casualties, but 40 per cent of the building was damaged.

The fire in 2018 was caused by a spark that set alight illegal flammable cladding panels on the building’s exterior, reported The Star.

An official confirmed that it was then the first fire involving flammable cladding panels in Malaysia.