By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Sept 6: Two bushfires have been detected in Kampung Moyan Ulu in Asajaya and Jalan Taman Harmoni in Sri Aman today.
According to reports from the Fire and Rescue Department, the incident in Kampung Moyan Ulu saw firefighters receiving a call at 9am, with personnel from the Asajaya station deployed.
Firefighters initially used an 800-foot hose line with two nozzles connected to a GP 10/10 portable pump to battle the blaze.
However, at about 10.28am, the pump malfunctioned and could not draw water from an open water source, forcing firefighting operations to be suspended three minutes later.
The team subsequently contacted the Serian station to arrange for a Tohatsu pump to be brought to the scene. The replacement pump was deployed at about 3.41pm, allowing firefighting operations to resume.
However, the Tohatsu pump overheated at about 5.02pm and had to be shut down.
An excavator was also used to create a firebreak and a pond in the area to address the water shortage and prevent the fire from spreading.
The operation was suspended at 6pm and will resume tomorrow (Sept 7).
The fire affected 2.8 hectares, with 1.2 hectares extinguished.
For the incident at Jalan Taman Harmoni, a call was received at 1.37pm, and firefighters from the Sri Aman station were deployed, with two teams involved.
Team 1 deployed a 400-foot hose line, a dividing branch and a 300-foot attack hose with two nozzles, drawing water from a drain using a GP 10/10 portable pump.
The team used total flooding and firebreak methods to contain and extinguish the fire in Sector 1. Team 2 used a hose line supplied by the fire engine to fight the blaze and created firebreaks to prevent the fire from spreading in Sector 2.
However, firefighters faced challenges due to limited water sources: the available drain was shallow, and fire hydrants were located far from the site.
The fire engine had to make repeated trips to refill its water tank because there was no water source in Sector 2.
The fire affected 2.8 hectares of land, and crews extinguished 1.2 hectares.
Operations were suspended at about 6.20pm and will resume tomorrow. — DayakDaily
