Firemen brave the heat

BANTING: Stepping into the blazing South Kuala Langat forest reserve is like stepping into a land made of sponge soaked in boiling water.

Open burning by farmers to illegally clear land for business has ignited peat soil here covering an area the size of 43 football fields.

Fire and Rescue Department personnel have been battling the blaze since March 31, and have finally managed to stop the spreading fires with the help of the daily thunderstorms of late.

The fires here have been pegged as one of the contributors to the poor air quality in the Klang Valley recently.

Every morning at 7am, about 45 firemen begin their operation to put out and cut off the fire from spreading even more.

The land clearers started burning right smack in the middle of the forest reserve, some 3.5km off the nearest dirt road.

Firemen, carrying heavy equipment, pumps and hoses have to walk the distance every day before they can even begin their work.

It is scorched earth and flattened land all around the path to the active fire zone.

All in a day’s work: A fireman dousing peat soil fires in the South Kuala Langat forest reserve.

Even walking becomes difficult as the ground beneath sizzles with embers and spews white smoke – indicating there are still fires smoldering in the peat soil.

Heat radiating from the ground turn the firemen’s journey into a fire-walking challenge. The loose soil makes it difficult for the mens to find their footing.

“It’s very difficult because the fire is breaking out in the middle compartments of the reserve. We had to use excavators to make paths for us to go in and reach the fires.

“The peat soil is also a problem because the fire is not seen on the surface, it’s underground and it can spread very fast. The only way we can put it out is if we totally flood the place,” said Selangor Fire and Rescue Department Zone 5 chief Abu Bakar Abu Kadir.

Officers work non-stop, he said, only taking time to have one meal of simple packed white rice with curry and a drink, before going on until 6pm.

The Forestry Department warned the officers not to work into the night as nocturnal animals may pose a threat to their safety.

However, Abu Bakar said the morale was high in the team, made up of officers from four fire stations, as they are rotated out every three days to keep them fresh.

“This is our job, to do this. Even though it’s hard, we have to keep going,” he said.

Officers have managed to contain the fires within 34 acres (13.75ha) of the reserve by digging water trenches around the blaze and flooding the lands with water.

On April 9, the fires were so bad the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency were called to waterbomb the forest to keep the fires under control.

Abu Bakar said that if the wet weather continues, his men would be able to completely extinguish the fires soon.

He asked the public to refrain from anymore open burning.