Firefighters Take 10 Hours To Extinguish Fire At Pulau Burung Landfill Site

NIBONG TEBAL, Sept 23 (Bernama) -- Firefighters took about 10 hours to extinguish a fire at the Pulau Burung landfill site here, which broke out early this morning.

Penang Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) assistant director of Fire and Rescue Operations Division John Sagun Francis said the incident involved a fire at a pile of solid waste at Phase 3 of the landfill, with an affected area of 0.6 acres (0.24 hectares), which is three per cent of the total 25.96 acres of the site.

“Initially, the fire was under control at 9.30 am, however, the fire persisted in the lower part of the landfill,” he said in a statement today.

"The firefighting operation has been divided into two sectors, using water sources from fire engine tanks as well as water tankers through the 'relay pumping' method due to the absence of fire hydrants at the location," he said in a statement today.

He said firefighters also implemented a firebreak method, with the help of four excavator units to dig and separate the piles of garbage to prevent the fire from spreading.

Additionally, John announced that the direct attack and total flooding methods were also used in the effort to extinguish the fire, before the fire was successfully put out completely at 4.05 pm and the operations concluded at 5 pm.

Previously, he said they received an emergency call at 6.39 am and 32 personnel from the Nibong Tebal Fire and Rescue Station (BBP), with assistance from BBP Sungai Bakap, Bandar Perda, Penanti, Bayan Baru, as well as the Nibong Tebal, Parit Buntar, and Tanjung Piandang Volunteer Fire Brigades (PBS) were involved in the operation.

This is not the first time a fire has happened at the landfill; the last recorded incident occurred on July 21, 2024, affecting an area of 3,500 square metres (sq m).

Before that, in January 2022, a major fire involving over 8,000 sq m caused the area to be declared a Level 1 disaster zone by the National Security Council (NSC), with two temporary evacuation centres (PPS) opened to accommodate residents from Byram Estate and Kampung Kebun Baru affected by air pollution.

-- BERNAMA