An Mi17 helicopter from Bomba is used for water bombing.
MIRI (March 26): The State Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) will deploy water bombing in inaccessible areas where peat fire is still going on, to contain the fire situation in northern region of Miri.
Minister in charge of Miri Division Disaster Management Committee, Dato Sri Lee Kim Shin, said he had been informed by state Bomba director Datu Khirudin Drahman that the Bombardier aircraft is expected to arrive in the afternoon today (March 27) to immediately carry out water bombing at inaccessible areas.
“I was told that arrangement has been made to use Bombardier aircraft by Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) to carry out the water bombing. Personnel from other agencies like the army, Civil Defence Force and Drainage and Irrigation Department will also be joining the firefighting team on the operation tomorrow (today).
“Meanwhile, at the moment, the Public Works Department (JKR) has deployed an excavator to assist in creating fire breakers; and owners of the affected lands will be working together with Bomba to dig drains using excavators to create fire breaks, to pump water from nearby ponds and water bodies to flood their areas to put off the fire and to prevent it from spreading,” said Lee in a statement today.
As of today, he said the peat fire had affected over 100 hectares of land, and at 2.30pm, Mi17 helicopters from the Sarawak Bomba air base had conducted ten rounds of water bombing using 1,600 litres of water per pump.
Lee is seeking the cooperation of the public to immediately report to Bomba should they come across any fire.
“They should also report to the Natural Resources and Environment Board, the Department of Environment or police if they come across people carrying out open burning or carrying out illegal burning on state land for farming.
“The cooperation from the people is necessary to prevent haze from occurring in Miri,” said Lee.