Blazing Challenges: Bomba DG speaks on Putra Heights fire and more

The Star

In an interview in conjunction with International Firefighters Day national level celebrations taking place in Pahang on Saturday (May 4), Fire and Rescue Department director-general Datuk Nor Hisham Mohammad talks about the department’s vital role and the challenges it faces—particularly in responding to major disasters such as the recent inferno in Putra Heights, Selangor.   WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news  SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar  LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

Transcript

00:00Talking about Malaysia, we cannot run away from what we call a flood.

00:04We have a monsoon flood and we also do have the flash flood.

00:08So, for the past five years, if I may to recall, we experienced the worst flood ever

00:16is when it happened in six days.

00:19Mainly, Selangor, same day, then happened to the same time also hit Negeri Semilan and Pahang.

00:30Yeah, Pahang in the Karak area, Selangor, of course, we have 22 area affected on that night

00:37from Hulu Langat, then we go to Sepang and then Kuala Langat, of course, on the Klang side

00:46and then, kita tak boleh lupakan, the Taman Seri Muda lah, the worst and worst affected by the monsoon Timur Laut.

00:54That's where your house was affected, yeah?

00:56My house was affected, 8 hari tenggelam, 6 kaki dalam.

01:00Oh, that's very good.

01:01Yeah, because my house is on the lowest point of this Kampung Bukit Canggang lah.

01:06The overflow from this Sungai Langat came down from upstream,

01:10daripada Hulu Langat, then my area is in Kuala Langat.

01:14Jadi, coincident, that time also king type kan?

01:18Jadi, dia temu dua-dua ni, jadi itu yang teruk lah.

01:21And then, Batang Kali, 2022.

01:24So, that's a natural disaster yang berlaku.

01:28Dan Putra Haid recently, even though the investigation still going on,

01:33but I do believe that's a combination of a few factors.

01:36The natural factor and the man-made factor lah.

01:39So, itu kita akan tunggu dia punya finding lah nanti.

01:43Dr. Soalan tu, eh?

01:45Yes.

01:45Although the life's loss in this case were minimum,

01:47but there was a lot of loss of two property.

01:49How many were injured in the case

01:51and what is the total loss of so far that you all estimate?

01:54Based on the record by Kementerian Kesihatan,

01:57ada 150 victim yang refer to the, refer themselves to the hospital

02:03and clinic surrounding the area lah.

02:05Jadi, daripada jumlah itu, I was informed that

02:07tiga tidak menerima apa-apa rawatan lah.

02:11More on traumatic punya, dia kata dia trauma,

02:13takut, berdebar, something like that lah kan.

02:15So, the rest, 147, dia ada suffered,

02:19mencakap burn lah.

02:20Majority is a burn injury.

02:22Based on estimation, we met within the radius of 280 meter.

02:26Radius incident, because based on the first simulation,

02:29we assume that area will be affected,

02:33we run the KMEO punya, apa tu, program,

02:36ialah sejauh 335 meter radius.

02:39If it's going to be about 437 rumah,

02:44we are talking about losses about 102 million.

02:46Officially, declared, I declared hari itu ialah,

02:48loss ialah 65 million.

02:51From house punya loss je.

02:54Dengan building and building content.

02:57Okay?

02:58Building and building content.

02:59I mean, the building and the building content lah,

03:01all the sofa, all the TV semua.

03:02Exclude, kita estimate juga untuk kereta,

03:05lebih kurang 7 million.

03:06Itu tetap masuk masa kiraan itu.

03:07Because kereta is subject to you,

03:09hantar kepada workshop,

03:11then workshop, we evaluate lah.

03:13Kan?

03:13Ada yang claim kata total loss.

03:14Tetapi bila kita bershop,

03:16dia hanya replace all the panel sahaja kan.

03:18Jadi, 7.

03:18And then, on top of that,

03:21we have around 5 point something million

03:23on the infrastructure loss.

03:25Maksudnya yang garden,

03:27kan, apa tu,

03:29apa tu, road furniture, lampu,

03:31kan, jalan.

03:32So, gangway,

03:35semua itu yang another loss lah.

03:37Okay.

03:37So, all together macam itulah.

03:39Yang lebih kurang dalam 80 million lah.

03:41So, yang Petronas ada buat,

03:43they were claim to?

03:44Petronas belum.

03:45Oh, there are losses?

03:47Belum, not yet, not yet.

03:48Because they have so many losses

03:50on Petronasai.

03:51Kita kena faham

03:52bahawa it's direct loss

03:53because of the pipe.

03:54Lepas tu, it's contract loss.

03:57Kan?

03:57Lepas tu,

03:58dia ada lagi projection macam-macam lah.

04:00Is it like a miracle that

04:01nobody died in this incident?

04:03I think so.

04:04Because?

04:05From the size of the fire

04:06and whatever we saw.

04:07And happen.

04:08The time is open.

04:10Bukan cuti sekolah,

04:11sedang cuti umum.

04:12Hari raya sama.

04:13Orang tak pergi kerja kan?

04:15Pukul 8 pagi,

04:16orang tak pergi kerja.

04:18Lepas tu,

04:18orang tak ada dekat rumah.

04:20On the bomber side,

04:21kita ada juga

04:22yang kita punya,

04:23kita panggil

04:24right time happen.

04:26Because,

04:27pukul 8 pagi,

04:28we about to tukar the shift.

04:29So,

04:29semua anggota dah ready

04:30pakai baju,

04:31nak tukar,

04:32ambil baris kan?

04:33Nak check.

04:34Then,

04:34alarm trigger.

04:35Terus,

04:36kita boleh mobilize

04:37semua balai.

04:38Hari raya sama.

04:39Trafik tak heavy.

04:41Jadi,

04:41cepat sampai.

04:43All the fire engine,

04:43cepat sampai.

04:44On jam 11,

04:45balai yang kita hantar

04:46mula-mula tu.

04:47Semua sampai dengan,

04:49orang cakap,

04:49very quick time.

04:51And then,

04:52another one ialah,

04:53kita baru saja keluar rekrut

04:54pada bulan puasa baru ni.

04:57So,

04:57this rekrut,

04:58kebanyakan majority

04:59yang tu tak boleh cuti lah.

05:00So,

05:00those yang post dekat

05:01balai-balai ni

05:02tak boleh cuti.

05:03So,

05:03diorang pun tengah fit lah,

05:04Nelson.

05:04Jadi,

05:05bila jadi tu,

05:06dia laju,

05:07dia sangat eager lah.

05:08Maksudnya,

05:09dia pergi sampai depan api lah.

05:11What are the challenges

05:11faced by bomber

05:12when handling this fire?

05:14Were your personnel injured

05:16or your equipment

05:17all damaged?

05:18Paling penting ialah,

05:20yang bagi saya ialah

05:20the intensity

05:21of the fire itu.

05:23If you look at the

05:24cameo punya,

05:25kita punya simulation,

05:27area 130 meter

05:29from the epicenter

05:30is considered

05:32very high hazard.

05:33Maksudnya,

05:34very high hazard

05:35to any human.

05:36Sebab,

05:37dia punya temperature tu

05:38is between

05:38430 degrees Celsius

05:40to 750 degrees Celsius.

05:43Which is,

05:44can melt,

05:45orang cakap,

05:46plastik and wood.

05:47Plastik,

05:48dia boleh melt

05:48dekat sepat tu,

05:49kalau besi,

05:50dia akan lost structure

05:51tapi kita tidak ada besi.

05:53So,

05:53dia punya,

05:54kita yang hadapi

05:55paling besar ialah

05:56the intensity

05:57of the,

05:58orang cakap,

05:59the heat itu

05:59yang akan beri efek

06:00kepada kita.

06:01Why did he take

06:02seven hours

06:03for the infernal

06:03to burn,

06:04you switch off the,

06:05no,

06:05yeah,

06:06you are right,

06:07you are right,

06:08because the first stage

06:10when I came there,

06:12the team estimated

06:13that the fire

06:14will be last

06:15for four hours

06:16based on the,

06:17orang cakap,

06:17the quantity of the gas,

06:19the pressure,

06:19whatever,

06:20dalam tu,

06:21ok,

06:22kita cakap ada.

06:23Tetapi,

06:23saya tengok tadi,

06:24because on the upstream,

06:26we have 8 kilometer

06:27punya pipe gas

06:28yang ada gas,

06:29so the downstream,

06:30you ada another

06:3110 bawah,

06:32tetapi,

06:33there is a backflow

06:34yang masuk

06:35daripada

06:36northern,

06:38maksudnya,

06:38because very high

06:39pressure kan,

06:40mungkin barf itu,

06:41jadi dia ada

06:42backflow

06:42from the northern region

06:44tu,

06:44sebab kena ingat,

06:45apa tu,

06:47this gas

06:47supply from

06:48segamat,

06:49pumping out

06:49toward north,

06:50jadi tetapi,

06:51apabila terbakar tu,

06:53nesan,

06:54jadi pressure dalam,

06:55between these two,

06:57gate buff itu,

06:58dia dah lost,

06:59drop the pressure

06:59because dia dah

07:00burn out kan,

07:01tetapi,

07:02kena ingat,

07:02ini tinggi,

07:03so dia ada

07:04backflow sedikit,

07:05so we have to close

07:06another buff,

07:07the adjacent buff,

07:08the next buff,

07:09so people asking me juga,

07:11kenapa tak hantar tim

07:12untuk padam,

07:13boleh padam,

07:14first is you have to use

07:15explosion lah,

07:17untuk embus,

07:17supaya vibration,

07:19jadi kalau you guna itu,

07:20habis dengan rumah semua habislah,

07:22all gone,

07:22and then another one,

07:24you can use the excavator,

07:26bawa tanah sebesar-besar,

07:27and then try to cover it up,

07:29cut the oxygen,

07:30then you boleh padam,

07:31tapi siapa nak dare untuk,

07:33ni kan,

07:33sebab,

07:34apa tu,

07:34aircon pun cair,

07:36you nak hantar siapa,

07:37jadi not possible to do,

07:39so the best strategy,

07:40untuk big pipe,

07:42ladyburn,

07:44so saya estimate,

07:45pada pukul 3.48,

07:48sepatutnya padam,

07:49tetapi dia padam,

07:50pada 3.45 lah,

07:51sebab,

07:54saya bagi statement,

07:553 minutes earlier sahaja,

07:57bila diorang kata,

07:58padam,

07:59saya tengok 3.45,

08:00that official time,

08:01kita dikelayalah,

08:02dia padam,

08:04ok,

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