Firemen monitoring fire trail at Gunung Tempurung
Firemen monitoring fire trail at Gunung Tempurung
17 February 2014
published by www.nst.com.my
Malaysia — Firemen used fixed monitor nozzles to douse a forest fire at Gunung Tempurung near Sungai Siput Selatan new village here which continues for the fourth day.
Perak Fire and rescue Department director Yahaya Madis said this was to prevent the fire from spreading to the edge of the mountain due to burning debris and smouldering embers.
“The dry spell and strong wind easily spread the fire in small pockets to adjacent areas. We’ve detected two clusters of fire at a distance of 150 metres and 300 metres from the foot of Gunung Tempurung,” he told reporters after monitoring the fire-fighting operation here today.
He said fire-fighters were manning the foot of the mountain to avoid pockets of fire from reaching the area as the use of bumby buckets to douse it was found unsuitable.
“Apart from geographical factor, it’s difficult to use bumby buckets to spray water from helicopters to the affected areas as it might affect the surrounding community,” he said.
Yahaya said 24 fire-fighters had pitched tents to monitor the fire trail although the affected areas were far away from residential areas and one km from Gunung Tempurung’s cavern, thus tourists safety were not threatened.
The fire, which was believed to have been triggered by a lightning strike at 7.49pm on Friday, had so far engulfed 1.6 ha of forest in Gunung Tempurung.
The fire-fighting operation was hampered by steep slopes and an unstable limestone hill as rubble fell due to intense heat from the fire.
