A fire at the Kayu Madang landfill site in Telipok has been burning for four days with no signs of being extinguished. - Pic courtesy of Fire and Rescue Dept
A fire at the Kayu Madang landfill site in Telipok has been burning for four days with no signs of being extinguished. - Pic courtesy of Fire and Rescue Dept

KOTA KINABALU: A fire at the Kayu Madang landfill site in Telipok has been burning for four days with no signs of being extinguished.

Most recently, the Sabah Fire and Rescue Department had to resort to using foam to extinguish the fire, which is believed to have started from the disposal of used tyres at a landfill site.

The department's operations centre Assistant Superintendent  Riki Mohan Singh Ramday said that the operation involved 59 personnel and officers from the Tuaran, Kota Kinabalu, Lintas and Penampang stations as well as from the headquarters.

He said that the operation was also assisted by the Malaysian Civil Defence Force (APM), Kota Kinabalu City Hall (DBKK), and People's Volunteer Corps (Rela).

"Today and yesterday's firefighting operations utilised Fix Monitor Fire Fighting equipment alongside the High-Performance Pump Module (HPPM) machinery, drawing water from open sources in addition to using foam firefighting methods.

"The firefighting operation is divided into four sectors, namely sectors A, B, C, and D," he said yesterday.

He added that for sector A, 90 per cent of the fire has been extinguished, while sector B had a 100 per cent burning rate.

"For sector C, 50 per cent of the fire has been extinguished, and sector D has been extinguished by about 70 per cent.

"The fire involving the disposal of used tyres at the landfill site spans an area of 45,700 square meters, with the remaining fire area measuring 25,000 square meters," he said.