It will take a week to put out fire at Kota Kinabalu landfill, says City Hall

KOTA KINABALU: The ongoing fire involving used tyres at the Kayu Madang landfill in Telipok will take at least a week to be completely put out, says Kota Kinabalu City Hall.

The local authority said it was taking safety measures, including speeding up landfilling on the used tyres to reduce the smoke plumes while firemen continued to fight the fire in the area for a second day.

According to City Hall, the fire started at about noon on Sunday (March 24) at a nearby secondary forest area and spread quickly to the landfill area, where used tyres were dumped by about 3.15pm.

Firemen were called in by 4.55pm and have since been fighting the fire, which covers an area of about 47,500 square meters. Thick black plumes sparked a fresh round of unhealthy air pollutants in the city.

"Burying the tyres with earth will continue until the fire is put out. It is expected to take seven days," the statement said.

Kota Kinabalu City Mayor Datuk Seri Dr Sabin Samitah and senior officials visited the landfill and assured that the situation was under control and it would not threaten other areas within the landfill as well as the general area.

Sabah Fire and Rescue Department director Abdul Razak Muda was also at the site to assess the situation.

The Environment Department's Air Pollutant Index Management’s (APIM) mobile station at Kota Kinabalu Polytechnic recorded unhealthy air condition levels from 10pm (Sunday), peaking at 157 at midnight and before dropping to 100 API (moderate) by 4pm.

Haze conditions also improved in Kimanis with readings below 100API after the area's monitoring station recorded unhealthy levels (above 100 API) from 5am to 1pm Monday (March 25).

API readings between 0 and 50 are categorised as good, 51 to 100 (moderate), 101 to 200 (unhealthy), 201 to 300 (very unhealthy), while 300 and above are hazardous.