KUCHING: More Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) stations are expected to be built, pending approval.
Sarawak Bomba director Datuk Khirudin Drahman said the five stations will be located in Julau, Lubok Antu, Dalat, Sungai Asap and Batu Kawa.
Currently, Sarawak has 38 fire stations and Khirudin praised his Bomba colleagues for doing an incredible job in ensuring fire safety across the state despite its large land mass.
“We have managed to locate suitable areas to build new fire stations and the proposals have been submitted and we are currently waiting for approval.
“It would be unnecessary and impractical to build a fire station in every area because we must consider the cost and its practicalities,” he said.
He was speaking to the reporters after the Bomba Sarawak appreciation ceremony held at the Bomba Sarawak headquarters today.
In addition to that, Khirudin also announced that Bomba received a total of 9,875 calls this year with 1,816 related to fire, 8,059 related to rescue, 627 special tasks and nine fake calls.
Operations centre statistics also revealed that there is an additional 20 fatalities this year compared to last year while the team managed to rescue about 201 victims this year, compared to 107 last year.
At the ceremony, Khirudin awarded promotional badges to two Bomba officers, Ali Sahar who will serve as the new Kidurong fire station chief and Michael Begun Gumbai as the Belaga chief. Both will start their tenure effective Jan 1.
