STEPHEN THEN The Star 23 Feb 16;
MIRI: Forest fires in some 109 hectares (270 acres) of jungles in Kuala Baram district - roughly the size of 270 football fields combined - were doused Tuesday.
As of late afternoon, the two Bombardier aircraft from Subang helped in aerial water bombing operations to douse fires in the district in northern Sarawak.
The aircraft belonging to the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency arrived in the morning following a request from Sarawak assistant minister for communications Datuk Lee Kim Shin.
Lee said the state authorities were grateful to the agency for the swift response. "The aircraft are capable of dumping 6,000 litres of water per sortie on the fires.”
Forest fires have ravaged at least 405 hectares (1,000 acres) of land in the district so far - an area roughly the size of 1,000 football fields.
Northern Sarawak is being hit by a very hot spell.
Villagers and jungle guides join firemen in fighting flames at forest reserve
G.C. TAN The Star 24 Feb 16;
ALOR SETAR: Some 0.5ha of the Gunung Pulai forest reserve has been razed in a fire.
About 100 firemen, civil defence department personnel, jungle guides and villagers have been trying to bring the blaze under control since 11am yesterday.
Fire and rescue department officer Supt Umrani Che Mat said the fire started about 450m above sea level and his men had to hike up to the site with guides’ help.
“We are manually fighting the blaze with ‘fire beaters’ and 10 ‘jet shutters’. A helicopter was also deployed to look out for more fire spots.
“Small fires were also spotted near Gua Kelambu and Gua Layang,” he said when met yesterday.
Supt Umrani added that the firemen were instructed to ‘stand down’ at 7pm. They will continue to fight the fire at first light.
“We have yet to determine the cause of the fire. We were alerted about the fire by villagers at 7.43am.
“Other than firemen from Baling, Kulim, Tikam Batu and Kulim Hi-Tech Park, we were assisted by our multi-skilled team and the volunteer fire squads,” he said.
