Fire, Fire ,Fire ....everywhere

School staffroom destroyed in fire

Reference/ Edited : From The Star Online 2010/03/21


SUNGAI PETANI: A teacher's room of SMK Bedong near here was partially gutted by fire on Friday. No one was injured in the 6.45pm fire as the school was closed for holidays. A Sungai Petani Fire and Rescue Department spokesman said the affected room was on the upper floor of a double-storey building. "The classrooms and the science laboratory were not affected. The fire destroyed five air-conditioning units, books, documents and furniture in the teachers' room." The spokesman said 18 men in two engines were sent to the scene and took 30 minutes to control the blaze. Losses and the cause of the incident have yet to be ascertained.


The haze returns, blanketing Miri city

Friday March 19, 2010
MIRI: The haze returned here yesterday morning, blanketing the city and the nearby coastline in a thick veil of choking smog. Visibility was reduced to less than 2km in some coastal areas while the South China Sea was not visible even from Canada Hill 1km away. The smog blotted out the sun, making the morning and noon appear as if it was already evening. Ironically, while the city was enveloped in this thick veil of haze, the air pollutant index (API) during the early morning in Miri was only 24.


“The API at 8am was only 24 but the visibility was bad. There are currently five big fires in Kuala Baram that are still burning. “However, there is a possibility the haze may be coming in from the sea,” he said. Siva said apparently the fires in Kuala Baram had not been doused despite the heavy rain two days ago in Miri city that lasted for one hour.

A check with the Fire and Rescue Department confirmed that the wildfires in Kuala Baram district are still raging. Kuala Baram, 35km north of the city, is adjacent to the Sarawak-Brunei border. A fire department spokesman at Lopeng said the fires in Kuala Baram had burnt more than 60 hectares. The wildfires and haze had worsened the already very dry weather in northern Sarawak that was brought on by the El-Nino.