ALOR SETAR: Nearly 85 per cent of the fire that has been raging on Gunung Baling over the past four days has been contained so far.
However, Baling Fire & Rescue Station chief Mohd Jamil Mat Daud said if the weather is hot and windy there is a possibility that this would reignite the fire that has been put out.
“Until now, nearly 85 per cent of the fire has been extinguished using water bombing method and the firefighting operation which resumed at 7.30 am today only detected a number of small spots of fire in decreasing numbers.
“We also detected a spot of fire leading to the Gunung Baling quarry but it is under control,” he said when contacted by Bernama today.
Mohd Jamil said the Mi-17 helicopter was still being used to conduct water bombing to put out the fire.
Mohd Jamil said as at 9 am today, as many as seven instances of water bombing had been conducted at the scene of the fire on the mountain.
“In addition, firefighters were using jet shooters and fire beaters to put out small fires and they were being assisted by personnel from other enforcement agencies,” he said.
The cause of the fire which started on Wednesday evening has yet to be ascertained but firefighters did not rule out the possibility of it having been triggered by some mountain climbers. – Bernama
