BINTULU: A weary yet determined group of Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) personnel who have been on the forefront fighting the forest fire at Similajau National Park were given a morale boost when their chief executive officer Zolkipli Mohamad Aton made a surprise visit to the affected area.
The gesture by Zolkipli, as he likes to be called, was timely as the fire flared up again on Thursday after it was assessed to have been extinguished for good earlier.
The forest fire, first spotted at a settlement nearby and spread to the park’s forests on March24, has seen the gritty side of the firefighters who are working close quarters and under the watchful eyes of the Fire and Rescue Department officers.
To date, 66 personnel, comprising 40 firefighters and 26 SFCSB staff members have been involved in the operation that is entering its third week now.
Even though the fires are now reduced to scattered spots of lesser magnitude, the team works as diligently as ever sweeping over the affected areas as the dead trees and other dry vegetation are potential fuel for any spark or amber that is left undetected.
This is compounded by the current dry weather and constant wind in Bintulu.
“The corporation is very thankful to you for all the hard work put into this operation since day one and we are ever ready to work together with you by providing the resources available at our disposal in this until the fires are completely extinguished,” said Zolkipli when expressing his gratitude to the Fire and Rescue Department personnel during an in-situ debriefing.
At the time of reporting, the fire-fighting operations were ongoing and all parties were hoping for rain.
