KUCHING, Aug 4: As the drought and haze season approaches, the state Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) is on alert, keeping a close eye on call outs to wildfires which can be quite a handful, especially if it occurs on peat soil.
Today near Melugu Ili in Sri Aman, Bomba personnel were called out to contain a peat fire burning some two acres of land.
As of press time, Bomba personnel were still battling to contain the fire from spreading to more areas.
The hot weather was of no help as according to a Metrological Department weather forecast, no rain is expected to fall in Sri Aman for up to a week.
Meanwhile in Kuala Baram, Bomba personnel there entered their second day of operations today to contain peat fires burning some 300 acres of land.
Most of the fire has been put out but Bomba personnel continue to work to contain peat fires on some 50 acres of land with the help of land owners.
Meanwhile in Sarikei, Bomba there received a call around 1.20pm today of a bush fire near Kampung Seberang Multipurpose Hall there.
However, villagers managed to contain the fire by the time a Bomba team reached the location around 1.25pm.
Bomba personnel then continued to douse the affected areas with water to ensure that the fire has been put out totally.
The Air Pollutant Index (API) readings across the state so far has been moderate (below 100), with readings between 45 to 78 as of 4.30pm today. The lowest figure was recording in Limbang while the highest was recorded at Miri Industrial Training Institute.
The Metrological Department yesterday reported that smoke and haze continued to be observed from persistent hotspot clusters in Riau and Jambi in Sumatra, and parts of Kalimantan.
It said haze from hotspots in West Kalimantan were observed to be heading towards Sarawak. — DayakDaily
