SRI AMAN: The operation to put out fires at Kampung STC here went into its fifth day yesterday.
Operation commander Tiong Ling Hii said 37 firemen and 14 members of the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) were involved in the operation.
The men were divided into three sectors — Sector A headed by Sekan Gundah, Sector B by Thomas Umpang and Sector C by Fazly.
Tiong said the teams were focusing on deepening the ditches that serve as both fire-breakers and reservoir.
“Five excavators were being deployed,” he said, adding that two prime movers and two fire trucks were used to extract water from Sungai Kejatau with the assistance of the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) Sri Aman.
He said the operation in Jalan Kejatau-Lingga bush fires was temporarily suspended because the firefighters were focusing on the Kampung STC fires which were threatening housing areas.
Among the agencies involved in the operation were the Resident Office, Civil Defence Forces, DID, Information Department and the Public Works Department (JKR).
The affected areas involved 133 acres, of which 82 acres were still burning away.
