SETIU: Firemen in Terengganu have been kept busy dousing forest and peat fires, no thanks to the current extreme hot and dry spell.
Terengganu Fire and Rescue Department public relations officer Rozizah Abni Hajar said that about 11 hectares of forests in Pengkalan Jering in Dungun and Bukit Layat in Setiu were consumed in flames.
“We expect to control the blaze in Setiu affecting 4ha in a day, while it may take up to three days to do so at the 7ha forest in Dungun owing to the severity of the fire over there,” said Rozizah.
She added that about 200ha of forest were destroyed in the state for the first four months this year following the El Nino phenomena.
Rozizah said during that period, the department received 900 emergency calls for forest fires.
“The extreme hot and dry spell puts plantations, bushes and forests at high risk of fires. As such, people have been advised not to carry out open burnings,” she said.
Meanwhile, firemen were also seen busy putting out peat fires in Manir, Kuala Terengganu.