sira habibu, martin carvalho, and stephanie lee The Star 18 Mar 19;
PETALING JAYA: The entire Peninsular Malaysia (except for Klang), Sabah and parts of Sarawak between Miri and Bintulu have been identified as being at extreme risk of fire, said Malaysian Meteorological Department director-general Alui Bahari.
“Open burning is strictly prohibited as it will be extremely difficult to control fire under the current hot and dry spell,” he said when asked to comment on the code red warnings issued by the department in certain areas nationwide.
The red code is issued by the department’s Fire Danger Rating System (FDRS) to indicate extreme level of risk of forest fires, unbeatable bush fires and drought.
FDRS is a forest/vegetation fire monitoring system that uses meteorological variables including temperature, relative humidity, rainfall and wind velocity to assist in haze and fire mitigation plans.
“However, during the transition period from March 19 to May, we can expect more rain and thunderstorms.
“But that does not mean we can start burning garden refuse and other stuff right away from March 19.
“Although we anticipate rain and thunderstorms during the transition period, we do not expect rain to fall right on the first day.”
The Fine Fuel Moisture Code is also at an extreme level in the affected areas, indicating that flammable material such as dry grass may easily catch fire.
Perlis, Kedah, Melaka, coastal areas of Negri Sembilan, central Pahang and including parts of Selangor, Kelantan and Terengganu are also on red alert, as the Fire Weather Code indicates it will be difficult to bring fire under control in those areas.
Drought has also hit many parts of the country including Langkawi, northern Kedah, the south-western tip of Penang island, Gerik in Perak, central Pahang, and Johor.
The Drought Code for the affected areas indicate that it will take fewer than five days of dry weather to reach the haze threshold level.
‘Stop open burning in current dry spell’
The Star 18 Mar 19;
KOTA KINABALU: Firemen in the state are battling an average of 40 open burning cases and bushfires daily due to the dry spell, said Sabah Fire and Rescue Department operations centre officer Mohd Hasbi Hajat.
He said that such cases had tripled since January and measures must be put in place to keep the situation in check.
“I hope people will stop open burning as this only makes the situation worse,” he said.
Mohd Hasbi said that the districts with the highest number of bushfires and open burning cases are Tuaran with 103 cases, followed by Keningau (64), Penampang (55), Kota Kinabalu (54), Papar (46), Tawau (44), and Kota Belud and Sandakan (42 each).
He said that in January, they recorded 219 cases, which increased to 537 in February and 677 up to yesterday.
“From the latest statistics, 374 are bushfires while 231 are forest fires,” he said, adding that the other cases involved fires at plantations, padi fields and rubbish dumps.
He said that there was also an increase in fires destroying structures such as houses and commercial buildings.
In the latest case at a water village in Kampung Air Sandakan yesterday, over 30 houses were destroyed and one man was injured in the 5.30am incident.
Mohd Hasbi said that the challenges faced by firemen in responding to these cases include the difficulty in accessing higher ground, lack of or no water supply due to the absence of fire hydrants and no open water sources from lakes, rivers or drains due to the dry spell.
Sabah Health and People’s Wellbeing Minister Datuk Stephen Wong urged the public to refrain from open burning and to keep themselves hydrated.
“We must do all we can to minimise health hazards,” he said, adding that people should reduce outdoor activities as well.
He said that though there has been an improvement in the air quality and haze situation, it could get worse if preventive measures are not taken.
“We have sent reminders to all districts, instructing them to keep a close watch on illnesses or cases that are related to the hot weather,” Wong said.
A check on the Department of Environment website showed that the Air Pollutant Index reading for Sabah is at a moderate level of between 52 and 84 as of 1.30pm yesterday.
Unhealthy air quality recorded in KK, Kimanis
Wan Faizal Ismayatim New Straits Times 17 Mar 19;
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah's Department of Environment (DOE) has warned the public against carrying out open burning after the air pollution index (API) in two districts here reached an unhealthy level.
As of yesterday, Kota Kinabalu and Kimanis stations have recorded API of over 100.
"This (unhealthy API) was caused by bush fires in several areas due to the current hot and dry weather," it said in a statement today.
Among the bush fires recorded were Bukit Indah Permai covering two hectares, Bukit Sepanggar (4ha), Kampung Kauluan in Tuaran (6ha), Kota Kinabalu's Institut Kemahiran Mara (6ha) and Taman Putera Perdana (6ha).
In Kimanis, peat fires were sighted along Jalan Bongawan-Kimanis-Papar.
The DOE added that no discounts would be given to compounds issued and advised the public to cut down on outdoor activities, stop all outdoor extracurricular activities for students as well as postpone all outdoor gatherings/sports.
Since the ban on open burning was enforced in January, the department said it had issued 42 warning letters, three order notices, nine compounds and opened three investigation papers.
