Malaysia: Haze in Miri hits 'unhealthy' 188-API reading

Bernama New Straits Times 19 Apr 19;

MIRI: The Air Pollutant Index (API) for Miri city reached an unhealthy level early this morning, with a reading of 188 at 5am.

The rising API reading for Miri obtained from the Department of Environment started last night with a level of 117 beginning 8pm.

However, by 6am today, the reading at the Industrial Training Centre in Kuala Baram, the area which is worse-hit by open fires in bush, estates and peat areas, had dropped to a moderate level of 56.

Miri Fire and Rescue Department chief Law Poh Kiong said the cause of the high API reading of 188 at 5 am was the wind factor which blew the haze into Miri city while the smoke from open burning in Kuala Baram was still present along the roads.

API readings of between 0 and 50 are categorised as good, between 51 and 100 (moderate), between 101 and 200 (unhealthy), between 201 and 300 (very unhealthy) and over 301 (hazardous). -- Bernama

Fire razes 100ha along border
The Star 17 Apr 19;

MIRI: A forest fire that has been raging at the Sarawak-Brunei border has spread to about 100ha, which is about the size of 220 football fields.

“It is massive. It is burning beyond control,” said Miri Fire and Rescue Department chief Supt Law Poh Kiong.

The inferno, which started on Monday about 30km north of Miri city in the Kuala Baram district, has darkened the skies.

Thick smoke has clouded Miri, causing a veil of smog, reducing visibility to just 100m in most residential and commercial areas especially in the Pujut to Lutong stretch.

Supt Law said the fires were located in the forests, making it difficult for firefighters to reach by land.

“There is no access road,” he said, adding that aerial water bombers were being deployed.

Fifteen rounds of aerial water bombing via helicopter that took place between 2pm and 4.30pm yesterday failed to do the job.

Miri mayor Adam Yii urged the Department of Environment and the Sarawak Natural Resources and Environment Board to nab the culprits of open burning as firefighters continue to battle wildfires throughout north and central Sarawak.

“There must be concerted action to stop open burning,” he said.

Residents blamed land and plantation owners and farmers for starting the fires.

Monica Chua of Senadin housing estate claimed that the culprits would start the fires in the middle of the night to clear their agricultural waste.

“Such fires and haze happen every year and yet nobody has been arrested before,” she said.

Sarawak has been plagued with wildfires since early last month in the northern and central districts.

In the north, fires are raging in Miri, Limbang, Marudi and Bekenu districts as well as in Similajau National Park while there are big hotspots in the central districts of Mukah and Kapit.

In Similajau, firemen from Sarawak Fire and Rescue Depart­ment managed to douse 2ha out of a 20ha forest fire that had been burning since last week.

Some six dozen firemen are currently in the national park battling the fires.

The Sarawak Forestry Corpora­tion has also deployed volunteer firefighters to help stop the fires from spreading.

According to the Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department, 245 cases of wildfires have razed 337ha between April 1 and 7pm yesterday.

Miri residents choking in haze
stephen then The Star 15 Apr 19;

MIRI: The night and early morning hours of Saturday saw many parts of Miri City in the grips of a choking veil of smog.

The central parts of this city and its outskirts were enveloped in a dense shroud of haze caused by wildfires from the surrounding outskirts.

StarMetro did some ground checks and found visibility reduced to just a hundred metres in most residential and commercial areas, especially in the Pujut to Lutong stretch.

The air smelled of smoke, many residents in this city of 350,000 are complaining of breathing difficulties.

In the northern half, there are raging fires in Miri, Limbang, Marudi and Bekenu districts as well as in Similajau National Park while there are big hotspots in the central districts of Mukah and Kapit.

In Similajau, firemen from Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department managed to douse two hectares out of a 20ha forest fire that has been burning since last week.

Aerial water bombing had already been carried out but the peat fires need to be doused at the ground level.

The wildfires in Sarawak started in early March.