Week-long landfill fire in Bedong not over yet

Up in smoke: A firefighter inspecting the landfill fire in Bedong. — Bernama

SUNGAI PETANI: It has been a week and firefighters are still fighting the landfill fire in Bedong.

Kedah and Fire Rescue Department operations assistant director Mohamadul Ehsan Mohd Zain said the task to put out the blaze was still ongoing as smoke blanketed the area.

“Much of the fire has been put out but there is still smouldering waste in the area, ” he added.

He said that more than 50 firemen had been deployed to the site and the department was conducting a total flooding operation to inundate the thick layer of waste deep below the surface of the landfill. Mohamadul also said that because the landfill had no fire hydrants, the department had to use a high-performance pump module on loan from the Perak contingent to supply water to flood the landfill.

The state Drainage and Irrigation Department was also providing assistance.

Mohamadul said the department was also using a helicopter bucket to drench the landfill from the air.

Tough task: A Fire and Rescue Department helicopter carrying out an operation to put out the landfill fire in Bedong. — Bernama

On Jan 20, a fire broke out at the Bedong landfill where thousands of tonnes of plastic are buried.

The blaze grew from 55sq m to a whopping 12,000sq m the following day, twice the size of a football field.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, some residents throughout Penang island took to social media to complain about the strong stench of burning plastic and wondered if the smell was being blown by the northeast monsoon from the Bedong landfill.

Penang environment committee chairman Phee Boon Poh, however, said no report had been received on air pollution in the state caused by the fire.

The Department of Environment’s Air Pollutant Index readings for Penang also did not register any spikes.