NIBONG TEBAL: The Fire and Rescue Department expects the fire at the Pulau Burung landfill here to be completely extinguished in two weeks.
Nibong Tebal fire and rescue station (BBP) operations officer Noor Asfariza Mohamad Abdul Kadir said since the fire occurred on Wednesday (Jan 12), they had only managed to extinguish seven per cent of the total 80 per cent at the landfill.
She said the fire at the landfill involved the surface and at the bottom of the garbage pile, up to 15 to 20 metres deep.
"We are working round-the-clock with a strength of 25 members at a time involving 25 machines including five Fire and Rescue Department's Hazardous Materials Unit (Hazmat).
"So far, four BBPs are involved, namely Paya Terubong, Penanti, Kepala Batas and Nibong Tebal. The total area concerned is 6.5 hectares which, to date, we have only managed to extinguish seven per cent of the 80 per cent area gutted," she said when met at the landfill here today.
Noor Asfariza said they had been trying to extinguish the fire and doing control works by using water sources and 'water tankers'.
"We are using the method of extinguishing the fire on the surface in addition to digging the ground to extinguish fire that is under the rubbish pile. This is a challenge for firefighters because the depth of the rubbish pile is between 15 to 20 metres.
"We will dig and wet the bottom of the rubbish pile and cover it with soil to ensure the fire is completely extinguished," she added.
She said they faced several constraints such as water and soil supply and routes for large water tankers to the fire site.
"Only today we are going 'all out' because we just got the soil.
"Besides that, thick smoke also makes it difficult for us to do extinguishing work. Fire and thick smoke will be there especially at night due to the wind," she said.
She noted that the cause of the fire was still under investigation.
On Jan 12, a portion of the Pulau Burung landfill caught fire about 5pm.
The estimated area of the landfill is 16.2 hectares but the area affected by the fire is about 6.5 hectares.