FIREFIGHTERS have dropped 143,000 litres of water to contain a blaze that has destroyed a coconut plantation near the Kuantan-Sungai Ular bypass here. The Fire and Rescue Department said in a Facebook post an Mi-17 helicopter conducted 110 rounds of water bombing, each time dropping 1,300 litres.

“The helicopter was deployed from the Fire and Rescue Department’s airbase to assist in the operation in Sungai Ular on Feb 25 with 11 crew members. The operation was suspended before resuming on March 3,” the post said.

“Water bombing has been ef- fective in preventing the fire from spreading. But hot weather and strong winds have caused smoke to drift towards Kuantan town, reducing visibility to less than 4km.

“The operation will continue until the fire is fully under control.”

Yesterday, the department said it was ready to deploy more manpower and assets to control the fire, which had raged for nearly two weeks and also spread to a nearby forest on Thursday.

During an inspection of the fire site yesterday, Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said the government was ready to carry out cloud seeding, but would consult experts and the relevant agencies before proceeding.

State Fire and Rescue Department director Mohd Razam Taja Rahim said the Mi-17 helicopter was dousing flames at the coconut plantation and the forest.

“Our focus is on extinguishing the fire near the forest. Once that is under control, we will work on containing the smoke.

“The Mi-17 was deployed last week. As the fire was nearly put out by water bombing, the team returned to base.

“But strong winds on March 2 reignited the flames, prompting the air unit to resume the operation.”

It is learnt that the water is taken from three lakes at the Sultan Ahmad Shah Maritime Academy, about 4km from the affected peatland.

Page 1 pic: A Fire and Rescue Department Mi-17-iV helicopter carrying out another sortie to fight the fires at a coconut farm near Sungai Ular, Pahang, recently.