Veil of haze surrounds Miri as wildfires spread near Brunei border

HUGE forest fires are raging in dozens of hectares of land near the Sarawak-Brunei border, as the dry weather worsens in the northern regions of Borneo island.

Miri Mayor Adam Yii is worried that the smog can be felt even in Miri city some 30km away from the nearest flames.

It is unclear as to what sparked off this latest round of wildfires – whether it was deliberate open burning of agriculture wastes or the dry spell and sun’s heat.

"The fires there are very big I was told. The smog is causing a veil of haze over Miri already.

"The Fire and Rescue Department in Miri are aware of the situation," said Yii who is also state assemblyman for Pujut constituency.

The critical areas on fire are in the Kuala Baram district, which is near the border with Brunei).

The exact expanse of the forest fires could not be ascertained as yet as they are burning deep in the interior areas.

Miri Fire and Rescue Department today said that from the initial information it is estimated that dozens of hectares are burning.

Fire teams have been deployed to the site but they could not do much as the flames are deep inside peat areas where there are no roads.

Yii said the council and the other enforcement agencies are concerned over more spates of open burning that will worsen in tandem with the weather conditions.

He called for stricter enforcement rounds against such activities daily.

At the end of last month, it was already reported that some 35 cases of wildfires were recorded in Sarawak over the last week from February 20 till February 27.

Bushfires, peat fires, forest fires and fires in dumpsites made up the bulk of these hotspots, according to the statistics from the Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department.

Miri district is the one with most number of these fires, with at least 12 hotspots detected.

The department said firefighters had gone to the ground to fight the blazes.

Total flooding and direct dousing from water sources were used, and also aerial water bombing in Kuala Lawas where a big blaze had ravaged more than a dozen acres.

On February 23, The Vibes reported increasing worries in parts of northern Sarawak over open burning and forest fires as dry and hot weather sets in.

A big fire raging in a peat forest in Kuala Lawas in the northernmost district saw about 12 acres of land burned, said the State Fire and Rescue Department that day.

That is roughly the size of about 12 football fields.

The fire was raging near a village called Kg Banting.

A helicopter equipped with water bombing facilities was deployed from the department’s Miri base to carry out aerial water bombings to reach the deeper areas. – The Vibes, March 20, 2024