KOTA TINGGI, Oct 21 — The Johor Fire and Rescue Department has managed to put out a raging fire involving 32 hectares of secondary forest at the Sebana Cove-Punggai bypass here after nearly a week of firefighting efforts.
Sebana Cove Fire and Rescue station chief Assistant Fire Superintendent Mohd Khairul Sufian Dahari said that the blaze was brought under control at 8pm yesterday by the joint operation team.
“The forest fire took some time to extinguish due to the location of the hot spots that were very close to each other, with some being about 200 metres apart.
“The firemen also faced some difficulties as they had to wade through swamp areas throughout the duration of the operation,” said Mohd Khairul in a statement today.
At present, Mohd Khairul said a team of firemen and Civil Defence Force personnel were still operating on a small scale in the affected areas.
He explained that the team was tasked with ensuring that all flames were fully extinguished as the hot and dry spell was conducive to sparking another fire.
“It has not rained at the affected area for over a week and the current unpredictable wind conditions also pose a risk in reigniting the fire,” he said.
On Tuesday, it was reported that firemen had extinguished a fire involving 23 hectares of secondary forest after three days of operation.
Firemen employed various firefighting techniques, such using as a zone division method, to control the blaze.
However, they faced difficulties in controlling the remaining nine hectares due to the dry spell and unfavourable wind conditions.
Prior to that, the Johor Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) also assisted by deploying its amphibious Bombardier CL415MP aircraft to assist with the fire-fighting efforts.
Since last Sunday afternoon, the nearby areas of the fire were reportedly covered in smoke, and visibility was limited to only two kilometres.
