SIBU: The bushfire situation in Lawas is rather severe.
Speaking to reporters during a Gawai closing dinner at Sg Merah Fire Department on Monday night, state director of Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) Nor Nisham Mohammad said about 140 acres in Lawas were currently on fire.
“The situation is on and off; we put out the fire, but the fire keeps coming back.
“We are communicating with Bomba in Sabah to see whether we should bring the high performance pump to the area. If we have access to it, we will move the high performance pump and some firemen from Sabah,” he disclosed.
According to him, while Miri has a stable water supply, the supply is getting scarce in Lawas.
He said the department was drilling a temporary well for water supply to enable them to put out the fire.
“We might face a problem if there is no rain in two to three days time,” he lamented.
According to him, the department is taking every measure to prevent the fire from spreading.
He said the department was trying its best to make sure that the fire would not spread to Industrial Training Institute (ILP) and an orphanage nearby.
From the report it received on Monday evening, its effort of prevention seemed to be working.
“However, one of the areas is entering the ILP area,” he noted.
Asked how long it would take to put out the fire, he said he could not tell at the moment.
“We are digging a ditch with backhoe to stop the fire from spreading. Once we have done that, we can then make the estimation,” he pointed out.