Two hectares of forest, fruit orchard razed in Perlis

PADANG BESAR, Feb 18  -- Over two hectares of forest and fruit orchard, located between Bukit Tunjong and Bukit Temiang, here were destroyed in a fire last night.

Kangar Fire and Rescue Station operations commander Mohd Faizal Abu Shahid said the fire started at about 4 pm, and the firefighters managed to put the blaze under control by midnight.

“The fire spread quickly due to strong winds and dry weather making it difficult to put it out.  We had to use water spray and fire beater due to low water pressure, apart from the fact that the nearest fire hydrant was located quite far from the site,” he told media here last night.

Mohd Faizal said 24 firefighters from the Kangar and Padang Besar Fire and Rescue stations were deployed to put out the fire, while the cause of the fire and the estimated losses were still under investigation.

Meanwhile, fruit orchard owner in Bukit Tunjong, Ong Beng Guan, 67, said he only realised parts of his 3.2 hectares farm caught fire at about 8 pm after being alerted by villagers.

“This is the second time a part of my fruit orchard was destroyed in a fire. Last year I incurred about RM1,000 in losses when 95 Musang King durian trees were destroyed in a fire. In the future I will install water sprinklers and pipes to prevent such incident,” he said.

--BERNAMA