Firemen battle to reach fire-ravaged jungles in Sabah’s rural areas

KOTA KINABALU: Firemen are in an uphill battle against Sabah’s hard to reach jungle fires with the rough terrains and absence of proper roads for fire engines in many areas.

Sabah Fire and Rescue Department director Abdul Razak Muda said so far, one of their biggest challenges in putting out fires, especially during this drought season is access roads.

“Sometimes, our fire trucks and engines are not able to reach the site so we have to go by foot, carrying heavy equipment and walk several kilometres to reach the fire where we are supposed to put out,” he said.

That was why, the availability of these equipment such as portable pumps, motorised sling pumps and fire beaters as well as high performance pump modules are vital in fire extinguishing efforts, he added.

Razak said this after receiving assistance from the Chief Minister on behalf of the State Fire and Rescue Department at Menara Kinabalu here, Wednesday (March 27).

He said so far, they have enough manpower as they roped in assistance from the Civil Defence Department, volunteer firemen and other supporting agencies.

“We have manpower on duty round the clock, and have frozen all leaves for the time being,” he said, adding the department had not pulled in assistance from their community firemen as they were civilians.

Water sources were still manageable and source-able at this moment, said Razak.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor being briefed on the current forest and bush fires situation by Sabah Fire and Rescue Director Abdul Razak Muda (left).

He said at the moment, areas that were still on fire include the Kayu Madang dump site in Tuaran and peat fires in Beaufort district.

“We have assistance from the City Hall putting out the tyre flames in Kayu Madang, and we expect to bring the fire under control and put it out by the end of this week,” he said.

As for peat fires in Beaufort district, the Fire Department is thinking of using High-Density Polyethylene Pipe (HDPE) and check dams to manage the spread of the fire, Razak said.

He said during this dry spell, structural fires were also reported due to open fires.

“Open fires can happen anytime with the tiniest spark. That is why we are working with the Meteorological Department in our fire extinguishing efforts (for wind conditions, daily temperature and rain forecast etc),” he said.

Earlier, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor allocated a total of RM267,444 to the Fire and Rescue Department for their use in purchasing additional equipment to put out forest and bush fires in affected areas in the state.

The equipment included 27 portable pumps, 75 motorised sling pumps and 906 units of fire beaters.

As of March 26, a total of 1,392 cases of forest and bush fires have been reported to have ravaged 3,600ha throughout the state.

Of this, about 3.46ha at the Kayu Madang landfill had still not been completely contained.

“To date, the Malaysia Fire and Rescue Department has mobilised 319 firefighters throughout Sabah. The State Government has pledged assistance to the department to contain the fires,” said Hajiji.

The Department of Environment Air Pollutant Index management unit recorded moderate air quality levels in Kota Kinabalu (78 API) and Kimanis (79 API).