BALING: The forest at the peak of Gunung Pulai here has been burning since this morning, with firefighters hard at work trying to put the fire out.
Kedah Fire and Rescue Department Operations Commander Superintendent Umrani Che Mat said they received a call at 7.43am on the fire, and the first fire truck arrived at the scene 16 minutes later.
He said the first group of 30 firefighters were deployed to the peak of the hill, at a height of 250 metres, to put out the fire.
“The fire spread to an area of three hectares, with four patches of smoke at the peak of the hill.
“Initial efforts focused on preventing the fire from spreading to about 500 metres from a settlement at the foot of the mountain,” he said.
Umrani added that they had sought the assistance of the department’s Aerial Unit to put out the fire.
As at 6pm, firefighters are still hard at work fighting the fire.