Taman Pinggiran Putra landfill fire: Firemen hope to wrap up by tomorrow

KUALA LUMPUR: Firefighters had almost extinguished a big fire at an illegal dump site in Taman Pinggaran Putra, saying that the operation is 95 per cent complete.

Serdang Fire and Rescue Department chief Zolkipli Sailan said the blaze was almost put out and the operation should conclude by tomorrow.

Efforts to put out the fire continued since Friday, the first day of Hari Raya Aidilfitri, when the department received a distress call on the incident.

Agencies such as Selangor State Disaster Management Unit, police, Civil Defence Department, Subang Jaya Municipal Council, district land office, Mex Highway, Tenaga Nasional Berhad and Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor also helped out in the fire-fighting effort.

“Hopefully by tomorrow, we can finally stand down,” he said when contacted today.

Zolkipli said the department was still investigating the cause of fire but did not rule out mischief.

It was learnt that the 0.8ha site, which belonged to the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute, has been illegally turned into an unofficial dumping ground a few years ago.

Subang Jaya Municipal Council president Noraini Roslan yesterday said the illegal dump site, which appeared 15 years ago, had been shut down for some time, but illegal dumping resumed recently.