Malaysia: Water bombing intensified in Kuala Baram raging forest fire

The Star 20 Aug 18;

MIRI: More than 70 rounds of aerial water bombing have been conducted here to contain a raging forest fire in Kuala Baram district.

The fire has caused the Air Pollutant Index to hover at the 113 unhealthy level mark as of yesterday morning.

Miri Fire chief Supt Law Poh Kiong in his latest update said the Bomba Air Unit would conduct more water bombings to try to contain the blaze.

“We carried out 70 rounds of aerial water bombings on Saturday. This morning we did more rounds,” he said.

Bomba Miri air unit intensifies aerial water-bombing in Kuala Baram district this morning, the second day running as Air Pollutant Index was at 113 unhealthy level this morning. Bomba Miri pic
Fire-fighters are also on the ground battling the fires raging on peat soil.

While the aerial water bombing was being carried out, there was slight drizzle that helped clear the haze.

Kuala Baram is also one of the affected areas.

The state authorities are also worried about haze coming from west Kalimantan, where there are already more than 120 hotspots raging.

Fires in areas measuring one sq km in size and above are termed hotspots as they can be detected by satellites.

Water-bombing intensifies in Kuala Baram, raging forest fire worsens haze
stephen then The Star 19 Apr 18;

MIRI: The Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department in Miri has intensified aerial water-bombing operations to contain a raging forest fire in Kuala Baram district.

The fire has also worsened the haze, recording an Air Pollutant Index (API) level at 113 on Sunday (Aug 19) morning. A reading of 0-50 is considered good, 51-100 moderate and 101-200 unhealthy.

Miri Fire chief Supt Law Poh Kiong said the Bomba air unit will be dropping more water to control the flames from spreading.

"Yesterday, we carried out 70 rounds of aerial water-bombings.

Fire-fighters are also on the ground battling the flames on peat soils.

The wildfire in Kuala Baram is one of dozens that are burning throughout the state.

Authorities are also worried about the haze and smog coming from west Kalimantan.

There are already more than 120 huge fires raging in the area.

Those fires measuring one sq km in size are called hotspots as they can be detected by satellites even 100km above earth.


Water bombing operations begin as forest fire rages in Kuala Baram
stephen then The Star 18 Aug 19;

MIRI: The Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department in Miri has started aerial water bombing operations to contain a raging forest fire in the Kuala Baram district.

The fire had already spread to 32 hectares of land and was nearing the Komplexs Hamidah orphanage, said Miri Fire chief Supt Law Poh Kiong.

Supt Law in his latest update to Sarawak Bomba said the Bomba Air Unit would be dropping water from nearby sources to try and contain the flames.

"Firefighters are also on the ground battling the fires which are burning in peat soil," he said.

Aerial pictures show smoke visible for kilometres in the sky. The wildfire in Kuala Baram is just one of dozens that are burning throughout the state now.

State authorities are also worried about haze and smog coming from west Kalimantan, where there are more than 120 huge fires raging.

Fires measuring more than one sq km in size are called hotspots as they can be detected by satellites 100km above earth.


Haze report: API reading in Miri soars to 'very unhealthy' 228
Esther Landau New Straits Times 18 Aug 18;

KUALA LUMPUR: Although the haze eased for much of the country today, Miri, Sarawak found itself shrouded in smoke.

As of 3pm, the Air Pollution Index (API) reading for the city soared to 228, which is considered “very unhealthy” by the Department of the Environment.

According to the Air Pollutant Index of Malaysia (Apims) website, the next highest readings – categorised in the “moderate range” – were led by Mukah, Sarawak (85), Kuching and Kuala Selangor (both at 84), and Batu Muda here (83).

The rest of the country recorded readings in the “moderate” and “good” categories.

Apims categorises a reading of between 0-50 as “good”, 51-100 as “moderate”, 101-200 as “unhealthy”, 201-300 as “very unhealthy”, and 300 and above as “hazardous.”

Meanwhile, a post on the Malaysian Meteorological Department’s Facebook page said that it, together with the Royal Malaysian Air Force (TUDM) and National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) carried out cloud seeding operations on Aug 17 over Kampung Johan Setia, in Selangor.

It was reported that a peat fire caused by open burning had been raging in the area and was the partial cause of the haze in central Peninsular Malaysia.

For more information, visit apims.doe.com.my.


Environment Department monitors peatland fires
AUDREY VIJAINDREN New Straits Times 18 Aug 18;

KUALA LUMPUR: The Environment Department has raised concern over possible increase in peatland and forest fires in the country due to the current dry season.

Its director Datuk Dr Ahmad Kamarulnajuib Che Ibrahim said several fire prone areas have been identified and were being closely monitored.

"Our concern are peatlands in Johan Setia, Klang, northern and southern part of the Kuala Langat Forest Reserve, and bushes and peat areas in Dengkil,” he said.

“In Pahang, Rompin, Bera and Pekan are our worry. In Sarawak, hotspots included Miri, Kuala Baram, Permy Jaya, and Mukah's peatland area.

“In Terengganu, fire prone areas included Kampung Tok Kah, Besut and Dungun peatland. While in Kelantan, Bachok peatland area has been identified as a hotspot.” he said.

When asked about the use of cloud seeding to control the haze problem, Ahmad said the number of operations needed would depend on how long the haze would last.

On Friday, Energy, Technology, Science, Climate Change and Environment Minister Yeo Bee Yin said the cloud seeding operations could only be done with enough presence of clouds.

She reportedly said that the haze situation was bad especially in the north of Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak.

As of 5pm today, the highest Permy Jaya in Sarawak recorded "very unhealthy" Air Pollutant Index (KPI) of 226 while Tawau, Sabah recorded “good” of 48.

A reading of 0-50 is considered good, 51-100 moderate and 101-200 unhealthy.