TEOH PEI YING New Straits Times 13 Oct 15;
SEREMBAN: The Indonesian government’s effort of fighting forest fire that caused transboundary haze using “water-bombing” is ineffective, said Fire and Rescue Department director general Datuk Wira Wan Mohd Nor Ibrahim.
Wan Mohd Nor said at the moment, Indonesia was keen on getting expert assistance on how to manage peat land fire as well as requesting for asset, such as airplane from Malaysia to support the operation.
However, he said the best approach to dealing with peat fire (like in Indonesia’s case) is ground troop.
“It is difficult to completely extinguish fire on peat land by using airplane as it only sprays water from above.
“When deal with peat fire, we need to flood the area to douse the fire,” he told reporters at a press conference after the Kualiti Alam Sdb Bhd’s Emergency Response Command Centre (ERCC) opening ceremony at Bandar Seri Sendayan, here.
He said the department is ready to dispatch 1,500 personnel to the different hotspots in the republic to help combat the fire.
“We are ready to deploy and send the manpower to the different hotspots. I believe it is a more effective method.
“However, we still waiting for the instruction,” he added.
1,500 Msian firemen on standby to battle Indonesian blaze
TEOH PEI YING New Straits Times 13 Oct 15;
SEREMBAN: The Fire and Rescue Department is still waiting for the go-ahead from Indonesia to dispatch its firemen to aid in combating forest fires in the republic.
Its director general Datuk Wan Mohd Nor Ibrahim said at present, Indonesia has only requested for helicopters to conduct ‘water bombing’ runs at the hotspots.
“We are ready to send 1,500 of our firemen to help put out the fires as the method being used now is ineffective to deal with peat fire.
“However, we are waiting for the nod from our Indonesian counterparts,” he said after officiating Pusat Kualiti Alam’s Emergency Response Command Centre at Bandar Seri Sendayan, here, today.
Yesterday, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) entered its second leg of operation to combat raging forest fires in Indonesia.
Its Bombardier CL415 aircraft pilots carried out 13 water bombing runs, dumping a total of 78,000 litres of water onto the blaze in Palembang.
The operation, which took four hours and 40 minutes, was carried out in an area spanning 20sq km, located 80 nautical miles southeast of Palembang.
Haze: MMEA Bombardier Aircraft Carries Out 13 Water Bombings In South Sumatra
Bernama 13 Oct 15;
PUTRAJAYA, Oct 13 (Bernama) -- The Bombardier CL 415 aircraft owned by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), which is involved in a mission to put out the forest fires in South Sumatra, Indonesia, carried out 13 water bombings on the second day of the operation Monday.
MMEA deputy director-general (Operations), Rear Admiral (Maritime) Datuk Che Hassan Jusoh said the mission which lasted four hours and 40 minutes involved the use of 78,000 litres of water.
The operation was conducted over an area of 20 square kilometres about 80 nautical miles southeast of Palembang, he said.
"With the limited visibility of only one kilometre, it presented a challenge to the pilots and the crew to ensure that the firefighting operations in the affected areas could be carried out smoothly and effectively," he said in a statement, here Tuesday.
On Friday, besides the Bombardier aircraft, the MMEA also sent an AS 365 N3 Dauphin helicopter with 29 MMEA officers to help fight the fires which has been causing the prolonged haze that is sweeping across neighbouring countries over the past two months.
The Bombardier aircraft had carried out water scooping 10 times and water bombing 10 times within four hours of assignment on the first day of the operation on Sunday.
-- BERNAMA
