156ha of peat fires still burning in Johor and Sabah
The Star 19 Feb 10;
PENGGERANG: Scores of firemen are still battling several peat soil and forest fires spanning over 156ha in Johor and Sabah. The fires broke out earlier in the month.
Fire and Rescue Department assistant director-general (operations) Amer Yusof said the peat soil fires in Johor involved an area of 130ha while 26ha of forest and bush fires had been detected in Sabah.
The affected areas in Johor are:
* 108ha in Kg Seri Paya in Tanjung Sedili, Kota Tinggi, which has been burning since Feb 4;
* 15ha in Kg Baru Punggai in Teluk Ramunia, Penggerang, affected since Feb 12; and
* 10ha in Kebun Felcra Kg Lepau
In Sabah, 22.6ha in Jalan Sepanggar, 2ha in Taman Putera Jaya and 1.6ha behind Hotel Berjaya Palace are affected.
Most of the fires in Johor and Sabah have been put out with only 7.6ha still burning, Amer said.
“Nevertheless, we are still monitoring areas that have been doused to prevent any recur-rence,’’ he said, adding that a total of 222 firemen were involved in fighting the fires.He said in Johor, the department was using two of its MI17 helicopters to conduct water bombings to douse the three major peat fires in the area.
He said firemen were also being assisted by 51 other agencies, with additional manpower deployed from Negri Sembilan, Malacca and Pahang.
Johor Fire and Rescue Depart-ment director Abdul Ghani Daud said the fires were caused by farmers who were clearing their land.
Tricky fight to put out landfill blaze
The Star 19 Feb 10;
A FIRE raged for about six hours at the Jelutong landfill on Penang island on Tuesday night. Sixteen firemen in two fire engines from the Perak Road fire station reached the landfill within minutes after receiving the call at 8.49pm.
But they faced difficulties in reaching the site of the fire, which was about 2km from the entrance.
Only fire engines which had water tanks could be used as the fire was too deep inside the landfill.
The fire engines had to go back and forth to a hydrant not far from the entrance to the landfill several times to refill their water tanks.
Firemen managed to douse the flames after 1am but there was still smoke for an hour after that.
Several volunteer fire-fighting teams, including one from Paya Terubong, also rushed to the scene.
Sungai Pinang assemblyman Koid Teng Guan said he was told about the fire at 7pm and rushed to the scene where he remained until 2am.
Koid said this was the fourth fire at the landfill since he was elected assemblyman in March 2008.
“The other three were small fires. This one was big,” he said.
The Fire and Rescue Services Department is still investigating the cause of the fire.
It will be scorching until April
Jaswinder Kaur, New Straits Times 17 Feb 10;
KOTA KINABALU: It's scorching hot in Sabah, with trees and grass turning brown and this is expected to last another two months.
State Meteorological Department director Abdul Malek Tusin said the El Nino phenomenon started in the middle of last year and was predicted to last until April.
"Some are saying we are experiencing El Nino when in actual fact, it started last year. We are actually in the middle of it.
"It is a moderate El Nino, so there is no drought. It is also normally dry at this time of the year as we are at the end of the northeast monsoon," he said yesterday.
Malek added that the current El Nino was not bringing a prolonged drought like what the state experienced in 1983 and 1997.
He said rainfall was below normal but things would improve in a couple of months.
Malek was commenting on a warning by the state Forestry Department last week of an impending "severe drought".
The department had said there were signs of the El Nino phenomenon, which was responsible for destroying forests in 1983.
The department's deputy director, Fidelis Edwin Bajau, had said forest fires were reported in Sipitang, and that shifting cultivation and illegal poaching, which could lead to brush and peat fires, had to be stopped.
"Companies which are forest concessionaires are reminded to take precautions in their areas by carrying out more patrols.
"They must ensure that firefighting equipment is operational."
