JOHOR BARU — Firefighters at Kampung Pekajang in Iskandar Puteri, near Johor Baru, are winning a battle to extinguish a massive forest fire which grew to almost 100 hectares on Sunday (Aug 25).

As of early on Monday, personnel from the Johor Fire and Rescue Department have successfully doused 45 per cent of the blaze which began on Friday, Bernama reported.

Originally 16 hectares in size, the wildfire grew to 98 hectares due to strong winds and dry conditions in the state.

However, 79 firefighters — including senior officers — from 10 stations have worked around the clock and are bringing the massive fire under control.

Five 20,000-litre capacity tankers were reportedly used to transport water to the site, as water at a nearby river was deemed insufficient to douse the flames.

The firefighters still have a long way to go before they can completely snuff out the blaze, however.

“Based on the current situation, (the operation) is expected to take (another) four days,” said Johor Fire and Rescue Department director Datuk Yahaya Madis.

“Following a proposal (to carry out cloud seeding activities), officers from the Meteorological Department came to the site to observe the formation of clouds (over the area).

“But the result of (cloud seeding) would probably be (only) 50 per cent successful due to low cloud moisture,” he added. NEW STRAITS TIMES