PETALING JAYA: Over 30ha of peat forest in six locations in Selangor are burning and firefighters are using every available method, including water bombing, to fight the fires.

A massive operation is under way in Bukit Tarik Rasa forest in the Kuala Kubu Baru area where more than 4ha of peat forest are burning.

“We are using a helicopter to airlift and drop men into inaccessible areas and also carrying out water bombing to completely put out the peat fires,” said Selangor Fire and Rescue Department Assistant Director (Operations) Norhisham Mohammad.

“This morning (yesterday), a fire also broke out close to a Petronas gas pipeline at Parti Lapan, Sabak Bernam on a 12ha secondary forest, but we managed to bring it under control,” he said, adding that some fires were suspected to be caused by agricultural and land clearing activity. 

FIRE CONTROL: A Fire Department officer, masked to protect himself against the smoke, spraying water at a burning peat fire in Kampung Lombong Kota Kemuning.

Among the other areas that are still burning are Berjuntai Bestari, Kuala Selangor where a 4.8ha site is still on fire, Tanjung 12 (9ha), Banting and Pinggiran Cyberjaya (over 1ha) near Putrajaya.

In Tanjung 12, Norhisham said, his crew managed to douse the fires on some 19ha of peat forest over the past several days. Nine hectares are still burning there.

Smoke from the peat and secondary forests fires caused concern early yesterday in Petaling Jaya and parts of Kuala Lumpur, as residents feared the haze had worsened.

However, by afternoon, the haze started clearing and the Air Pollutant Index (API) released by the Department of Environment at 11am did not show unhealthy levels in the country. The API reading in Petaling Jaya was at 73 as at 11am.

The department, however, said satellite images from the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre recorded 90 hotspots in Sumatra and 102 in Kalimantan, while seven were recorded in Peninsular Malaysia – in Johor, Kelantan, Perak and Selangor – and nine in Sarawak.

In Klang, Selangor state executive councillor Datuk Ch’ng Toh Eng said the fire in the Bukit Tarik forest reserve in Kuala Kubu Baru, which had been burning since Tuesday, might have contributed to yesterday’s hazy conditions.

Ch’ng, who chairs the state multimedia, environment and development of new villages committee, said fires were spotted at certain areas within the 100ha reserve.

“The district officer, who is also the chairman for the district disaster committee, called for a meeting on Thursday to assess the situation,” he said, adding that the lack of access roads into the affected areas had resulted in a delay in putting out the fire.

“Firemen had to wait for the Air Unit personnel to come and airlift people into the area by helicopters. About 80% of the forest fires have been extinguished.”

He said over 50 people, consisting of officers from the Fire and Rescue Department, its air unit, Rela, the Department of Environment and nearby village folk, helped in efforts to put out the fire yesterday. The forest fire had affected less than half of the entire forest reserve.