BINTULU – Firefighters are operating round the clock to douse raging wildfires at the huge Bintulu district dumpsite in northern Sarawak that have burned tonnes of rubbish since Sunday.
The Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department said today that the biggest fire is about three acres in size – roughly the size of three football fields combined.
“We estimated that our firefighters have doused about 20% of this three-acre fire.
“We have sent reinforcements of water tankers and ground teams.
“We have also created fire breaks using tractors and excavators and fighting the fire on the surface, using water and foam.
“Additional manpower is coming from other agencies to help,” the department said in an information update to the press.
The firefighting teams have to douse fires burning very deep inside the mountains of industrial and household wastes.
That makes fighting the dumpsite fires much more difficult, the department said.
It added that the cause of the fires, which started on Sunday, is still being investigated.
The Sarawak Natural Resources and Environment Board and the state Environment Department have also sent their officers to check out the latest situation.
The dumpsite measuring 500 acres is under the jurisdiction of the Bintulu Development Authority and sanitary operator Trienekens.
The fires there are spewing black smoke high into the atmosphere throughout the affected zone and beyond, choking the skyline with dense pollutants.
Elsewhere in Sarawak, there was heavy rain last night that helped to ease the transboundary haze from the raging forest fires in the neighbouring Indonesian state of Kalimantan.
With the help of the rain, the air pollutant index in Kuching, Serian and Sri Aman this morning turned from moderate to unhealthy. – The Vibes, September 7, 2023
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