Third fire in a row in Bukit Bendera forest area

Third fire in a row in Bukit Bendera forest area
GEORGE TOWN: File photo of firemen from the Paya Terubong Fire and Rescue Department preparing to put out the fire that occured on February 5th this year in the same area between Bukit Bendera and Kek Lok Si Air Hitam. This fire was reported to have been caused by open burning of remains of trees that had been logged earlier. Photo courtesy of BERNAMA

GEORGE TOWN, Feb 26 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Another portion of forested area in Bukit Bendera here caught fire early today, this time covering more than 0.8 hectares located close to the funicular train lower hill station.

This will be the third fire in a row this month in the same area and no answers so far have been coming forth on the exact causes of these fires.

GEORGE TOWN: The February 5th fire saw the loss of more than two hectares of forest in the area between Bukit Bendera and Kek Lok Si Air Itam.

On the latest fire, a spokesman from the Penang Fire and Rescue Department said a distress call was received at 12.15 am afterwhich firemen from the Paya Terubong station rushed over to the scene. 

“Strong winds and dry vegetation caused the fire to spread quickly. What made the job difficult was the lack of proper access to the fire location and the fact that it involved hill slopes.

“We had to hike a distance of about 100 metres from the lower hill station and make several round trips for water supply,” he said today. 

The squad used jet shooters, forest fire equipment  and manual sprayers to control the fire in about 30 minutes. 

“The fire was completely put out an hour after that but we will keep monitoring the situation,” the spokesman said. 

On Sunday night, almost a hectare of the forested area near the lower hill funicular station caught fire. 

— NNN-BERNAMA

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