Wildfires are burning across Tatau, Bintulu, and Miri districts in Sarawak as firefighters battle flames in remote, roadless terrain.
MIRI: Several forest fires are burning across at least three districts in Sarawak, with firefighters battling blazes in remote areas that are difficult to access and where water sources are scarce.
Ground reports from the Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) today confirmed active wildfires in the districts of Tatau, Bintulu, and Miri, as the state enters a hot and increasingly dry weather period.
In Tatau district, located approximately 250 kilometres from Miri city, a fire is consuming at least five acres of forested land.
In Bintulu district, roughly 200 kilometres from Miri, a far larger blaze is raging across approximately 10 acres inside the Similajau forests.
Closer to Miri, fires have broken out at multiple scattered locations across the district, including at Batu Satu Kuala Baram and the Tudan Desarus squatter settlement area near the Sarawak-Brunei border.
Sarawak Bomba confirmed that fire teams have been deployed to all affected sites, but warned that conditions on the ground are extremely challenging.
“The firefighters are struggling to fight the flames as the fires are deep inside areas where there are no roads.
“Some areas are very deep and far away from the main road.
“Water sources are also hard to find in several locations, and the flames are spreading fast,” Sarawak Bomba stated in a press update.
The cause of the fires has not yet been established, with investigators yet to determine whether the blazes were triggered by deliberate open burning or by the onset of the dry season.
Northern Sarawak, and Miri district in particular, has long been one of the worst-affected areas for annual fires and haze.
The current hot and dry weather conditions are expected to heighten the risk of further outbreaks across the region.