Malaysia: Sepang fires spreading due to strong winds and dry spell

JASTIN AHMAD TARMIZI The Star 7 Mar 16;

SEPANG: Strong winds and the dry spell have been blamed for causing the fire near Km 27.4 of the Elite Highway here to spread.

When contacted, Fire and Rescue Department KLIA Zone chief Abu Bakar Abd Kadir said the fire started spreading at about 2pm on Monday due to the hot weather and strong winds.

On Sunday, they managed to smother fire covering an acre, with another acre left to be put out on Monday.

“But now the fire has spread to about two acres towards the northern side," he said, adding that operations have been ongoing since Thursday.

It was reported on Saturday that the fire was believed to be started by certain parties as investigations found that there were people using the area to grow crops.

Abu Bakar, who led operations to put out the fire, said they were facing difficulty due to the peat soil conditions and water supply constraints.

He said the department had also tried to build canals using excavators to ensure the fire would not spread as it was still burning below ground.

He said there were a total of 33 personnel involved in the operation.