Fighting bushfires a challenging task for firemen

PETALING JAYA: Fighting open burnings and bushfires is getting extremely challenging for firemen as it is getting harder to find water supply.

“The current situation is expected to become even worse due to the current water crisis,” said Fire and Rescue Department corporate manage­ment division assistant director-general Sobberi Basiran in a statement yesterday.

He said the department was facing a critical situation with up to 564 reports of open burning received in a day.

It had received about 9,000 reports in February alone.

Sobberi urged the public to cooperate with the department to ensure that the situation did not escalate to “disastrous levels”.

“The Fire and Rescue Department is appealing to the people to be more aware of the effects of open burning and to completely stop any form of open burning.”

It was earlier reported that open, peat and bush fires were breaking out at the rate of 305 a day across the country due to the dry spell.