ALOR STAR: Firefighters are conducting water bombing to put out a raging fire on Gunung Baling.
A Mi-17 helicopter is being used to conduct the water bombing to put out the fire which started on Wednesday evening and has spread across 2.8 hectares, Baling Fire and Rescue Station chief Mohd Jamil Mat Daud said today.
He said that since the firefighting operation resumed at 8am today, seven to eight instances of water bombing had been completed.
“The weather this morning is fine. It is feared that it will become hot in the afternoon. We are attempting to use the water bombing method to put out three more large spots of fires,” he said when contacted by Bernama.
Jamil said the fire at the peak of the mountain had been extinguished by firefighters who had trekked up there with bags of water.
Twenty firefighters are involved in the operation, and they are assisted by more than 50 personnel from various agencies as well as mountain guides.
Jamil said the Kedah Fire and Rescue Department had dug two sources of spring water near the location of the fires to facilitate the work of the firefighters.
There are also two other sources of water, about four to five kilometres away – a pond adjacent to the Baling District Police headquarters and a river, he added.
The firefighters faced an uphill task yesterday as they also had to battle the hot weather and strong winds.
The cause of the fire has yet to be ascertained but the firefighters did not rule out the possibility of it having been triggered by some mountain climbers. — BERNAMA