Daro district officer, Abang Mohammad Abang Turki (fifth right) checking development at the scene.
Smoke is still billowing from the site.
APM and Rela members working together to help the fire and rescue department and villagers put out the fire.
KUCHING: The Daro district disaster management and relief operation room will be opened until 10pm daily to closely monitor the peat fire that is currently happening at Kampung Kut, which about one hour’s drive from Daro.
“The fire is under control and measures are being taken to control the fire from spreading to other areas. We are fortunate that an excavator was still working on a site nearby, so the owner helped us to build fire break and dug well as water source for us to fight and put off the fire,” chairman of Daro disaster management committee, Abang Mohammad Abang Turki told The Borneo Post in a telephone interview today.
Abang Mohammad the firemen have dug trench surrounding the fire area as fire break to prevent the underground fire from spreading to the nearby area as the weather continue to be dry, making the effort to control the fire much more difficult.
“Firemen from Tanjung Manis and Sibu are now making ‘firebreaker’ from behind the pineapple farm heading towards the oil palm plantation,” he said, as he headed to Kampung Kut from Daro at press time at around 5pm.
According to Abang Mohammad, the biggest challenge is that the hot weather is drying up the drain, and making all the dried plants more combustible to the fire, while the underground fire is very difficult to detect.
To further complicate matter, strong wind help the fire to spread faster and torching new area when the sparks are being flown away.
Fire and Rescue Department team from Sibu also brought water tanker to compliment the well that were being dug up for the water to be pumped to into the firebreaker drain to stop the fire from spreading from underneath.
Abang Mohammad, who is also Daro District officer, said his office played a supporting role for the fire fighting team and provided the front liners with the food, drinks and petrol.
The fire is entering is ninth day today, and the nearest village is only about 1.5 kilometer from the peat fire.
Photograph from the site shows that smoke were still thick as of yesterday but has been seen reduced after the fire break and systematic approach by the Fire and Rescue Department team. The fight against peat fire is also assisted by the personnel from the Malaysia Civil Defence Department and Volunteers Department of Malaysia.