Firemen come up with novel way to rescue victims

Made in Malaysia: Temerloh Fire and Rescue Department officers ferrying the villagers to an evacuation centre in Sekolah Kebangsaan Kampong Batu Kapur, Mentakab.

TEMERLOH: After experiencing difficulty in rescuing flood victims in 2014, the Mentakab Fire and Rescue Department here has come up with an innovative way to transport rescue boats to the water using a self-made floating trailer.

Its chief Mohd Kamarudin Mohd Saufi said most rescue work during the floods involved transporting victims to safer grounds or to relief centres.

However, most of the time, the firemen would face difficulty to transport their rescue boat to flooded areas, as the route to the affected areas are not flooded.

While on the way to rescue victims, the route might be dry or only passable to four-wheel-drive vehicles or boats.

“In 2014, during our rescue operations during the floods, it took longer to reach our destinations as we needed to locate flooded areas to float the boat. It took us longer to reach the affected victims,” he said yesterday.

To overcome this problem, the Mentakab firemen created a motorised trailer, where a “motorcyclist” pulls the trailer carrying the boat through areas where the flood water levels are low. The boat is only released in deeper waters.

Mohd Kamarudin said he spent RM3,000 to assemble an engine, braking system and battery salvaged from a new Modenas motorcycle to create the special rescue trailer.

“We made use of discarded materials like steel, plastic water tanks, tyres and rollers to support the frame of the trailer. The trailer can carry the rescue boat with five people on board.

“We plan to build a bigger frame to carry a bigger boat to rescue more victims,” he added.

Yesterday, the Mentakab firemen’s invention was put to use when they brought out three residents in Kampung Batu Kapur here.

Wayah Wachik, 67, Nur Nabiah Syazwani Mat Rousti, 25, and her husband Mohamad Hafiz Abu Bakar, 24, were trapped in their homes after the road to their village was submerged under 2m of water.

Their plight was spotted by Rela members during a patrol, who then notified the fire­fighters, to save the couple.