Bush and peat fires nationwide have dropped by a massive 90 per cent, due to the rain that has fallen throughout Malaysia in the last two days.
Fire and Rescue Department director-general Dtauk Wan Mohd Nor Ibrahim said his department received reports of about only 10 per cent of these fires yesterday compared to the daily average of 445 in March.
“In the last 17 days, we recorded 7,569 fires nationwide but the number has fallen in the last two days.
“On Sunday, we responded to 286 of fires, while yesterday we only had to deal with 44,” he told The Star.
Wan Mohd Nor said with more rain expected to fall in the coming days, bush and peat fires would drop.
“Between 8am on Sunday and 8am yesterday, Sarawak recorded the highest number of bush, peat and open fires with 16, followed by Sabah with 10.
“We responded to nine fires in Johor and five in Selangor, while Kedah, Penang, Perak and Terengganu recorded one fire each,” he said.
The Fire and Rescue Department is still combating ongoing fires in Terengganu, Perak, Pahang and Selangor.
On the use of bioderadable chemicals to put out fires, Wan Mohd Nor said the department required more mixers to process the checmicals before they could be deployed on a larger scale.
“We have already used the chemicals to help put out fires in Pekan, Pahang, and Busut Baru in Selangor and it looks promising,” he said.
Story: The Star Online
