The Borneo Post

Kuala Baram peat soil continues to burn

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MIRI: The peat soil fire in Kuala Baram continues unabated yesterday with another 100 acres razed, causing the air quality in Sarawak’s northern region to remain unhealthy.

The fire has thus far destroyed nearly 1,500ha of land since Aug 1, and causing the Air Pollutant Index (API) here to rise since, with the highest recorded thus far at 442 at 10pm on Aug 22.

Yesterday, a few agencies namely Fire and Rescue Department, Civil Defence Force, and Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM) teamed up with volunteers from Naim and Shin Yang to douse three hotspots behind Miri Industrial Training Institute (ILP Miri).

The operation commander, Awangku Mohd Hazmin Awang Zainal, when contacted yesterday said the team comprised 78 people trying to extinguish the three hotspots at Lot 3709 (behind ILP Miri).

“The fire was moving towards ILP Miri, and we had to act fast to stop it before it went out of control,” he said.

The ground team, he added, was working with the aerial team, using a Fire and Rescue Dept helicopter to carry out water-bombing.

“We managed to control all three hotspots at 3pm, and what is left now is just small pockets of smokes,” Awangku Mohd Hazmin said.

He added that the team was also using two excavators belonging to Shin Yang to make fire breaks, which helped to stop the fire from spreading to another 50 acres of land near ILP Miri.

The helicopter, on the other hand, managed to carry out two sorties yesterday with a total of 37,000 litres of water dropped in the area.

Meanwhile, the API reading at ILP Miri yesterday recorded an unhealthy reading of 187 as of 5pm, while at SK Kuala Baram 2 it was 146. Another station, Miri, recorded a moderate reading of 70 as of 5pm.

An API reading of zero to 50 is good, 51 to 100 is moderate, 101 to 200 unhealthy, 201 to 300 very unhealthy, and 301 and above hazardous.

 ??  ?? Volunteers from Naim extinguish the fire behind ILP Miri.
Volunteers from Naim extinguish the fire behind ILP Miri.

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