Firefighters battle bushfires in Perak and Miri

PETALING JAYA: The current dry spell has led to several bushfires across the country.

In Sungai Siput, Bernama reported that firefighters continue to battle for the second day running a mountain fire said to be spreading at a height of about 500m in the Gunung Korbu Forest Reserve.

The fire, spotted to be raging in about 10% of the forest reserve at about 8am on Tuesday, has now spread across 30% of the area, according to Perak Fire and Rescue Department assistant director of operations Mohd Yunus Abu.

A total of 30 firefighters are using water bombing techniques to put out the blaze in an area between the Pos Legap and Pos Mu settlements of the orang asli, said the commander of the operation.

They are using an MI-17 helicopter and dropping water from 1,500l capacity buckets, he said, adding that the fire was spreading fast due to the hot weather, strong winds and dry bamboo.

“Nevertheless, the fire is confined to the bamboo and shrubs, and has not spread to the huge trees in the forest reserve,” he said.

In Miri, the Miri Fire and Rescue Department has had to deal with two separate cases of wildfires in two districts over the past 24 hours,

Department chief Law Poh Kiong said his teams on the ground had been receiving wildfire alerts since Tuesday.

He said the first case involved fires in Bekenu. “These were fires in the forested bushland. There was another case of fire in bushes at Marina Bay in Miri, “ he said.

It has yet to be ascertained if the wildfires in Bekenu and Miri were ignited on purpose or if they were due to the current hot weather.

In George Town, a forest fire set ablaze a 0.8ha site in Jalan Ladang Hong Seng, Tanjung Bungah, covering the area in smoke.

Penang Fire and Rescue Depart­ment (fire operation and safety) officer Supt Nafis Ariff Abdullah said they were despatched to the scene at 9.34pm on Monday.

He said the fire was brought under control some two hours later.

“The fire was raging in several spots with a gradient of 65 degrees, about 20m high. There was no access to vehicles and the firemen had to hike up to put out the fire,” he said.