Peat forest fire at Kampung Balai Besar, Dungun spreading

 

The peat forest fire at Kampung Balai Besar in Dungun, Terengganu since last Monday has spread, covering about 20 hectares now.

Kasyfi Syahmi Ghazali from the Terengganu Fire and Rescue Department said until this evening, firefighters managed to put out the fire in an area of 15 hectares.

“The early stage of the peat fire (on Monday) only involved five hectares but the hot weather and strong winds caused it to spread further….and also occurring in patches. This situation makes putting out the fire outbreaks difficult.

"We also do not dismiss the possibility of burning of garbage to have caused the fires based on the discovery of illegal rubbish dumps,” he said when contacted.

Kasyfi Syahmi said aerial monitoring using drones was also being conducted and he expected the fires to be put out within the next three days.

- Bernama