SHAH ALAM, March 1 — About 35 hectares of the nearby Kuala Langat Selatan Forest Reserve, Banting, has been reported to be on fire over the past few days.
Selangor Fire and Rescue Department assistant director of operations Hafisham Mohd Noor, however, said they were only informed of the incident yesterday morning by the Selangor Disaster Management Unit who received the report from the Selangor State Forestry Department.
He said 68 firefighters including officers from several fire stations around Klang Valley were still battling the blaze.
"As the fire was far from the (forest) entrance, firefighters had to make their way into the forest to reach the affected area.
"Peat forest fires need time to extinguish, because even if we manage to put out the fire on the ground, sometimes it is not over because it's still burning underground. Only a lot of smoke was visible due to the fire and we used water from a dugout ditch," he said when contacted by Bernama here yesterday.
Hafisham said the operation was also assisted by various other agencies such as the Selangor Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), Civil Defence Force and the Kuala Langat District Council.
He said, to expedite the firefighting operation 13 water bombs were carried out yesterday and would also be conducted tomorrow with the help of MMEA assets.
He said by the end of the operation at 7 pm last night, two hectares of forest area had been cleared and the fire was under control.
"The firefighting operation will continue tomorrow," he said, adding that they are not dismissing the possibility of the fire having been started by irresponsible parties.
— Bernama
