Stop all open burning activities, urges Malaysia’s Fire and Rescue Department

JOHOR BAHRU - Malaysia’s Fire and Rescue Department is calling for an immediate stop to all open burning activities, given that the current dry spell has ignited three major forest and estate fires involving 400ha in two states.

Its director-general Nor Hisham Mohammad said the present dry spell is keeping firemen extremely busy as they have to attend to more than 400 cases daily involving open burning, forest and shrub fires nationwide.

“So far, March 23 and March 24 recorded the highest, with numbers touching 452 and 444 cases respectively.

“The public needs to stop all open burning activities immediately as currently, 40 per cent to 60 per cent of the calls that the department gets involves fires at estates, farms, forests and shrub land,” he said.

In the first two months of 2026, the department handled 6,575 cases compared with 9,941 cases recorded for the whole of 2025.

Datuk Seri Nor Hisham said the department has fought fires over some 1,920ha in 194 different locations across 39 districts nationwide.

“Each fire covers over 2ha, and to date, we have extinguished some 1,680ha.

“There are three major ongoing fires, including two areas in Pahang involving 100ha in Pekan and 50ha in Rompin, and another 90ha in Pengerang in Johor,” he told The Star on March 24.

“At present Kedah is at the top of the list this year with 1,508 cases, followed by Johor (1,351) and Selangor (674).”

Johor, he added, tops the list for major fires involving 1,208ha of land followed by Pahang (272ha), Selangor (177.99ha) and Sabah (142.52ha).

“All the fires in Selangor and Sabah have been put out, while only three locations are still burning in Pahang and Johor.”

Mr Nor Hisham also urged all farmers to stop burning agriculture waste or rice husk in large quantities, while the public needs to refrain from burning rubbish in open places.

“I hope the public cooperates with us as those found guilty can face a RM500,000 (S$161,680) fine or up to five years imprisonment, or both, under the Environment Quality Act 1974.

“The department has identified fire hotspots especially in areas with peat soil and will carry out surveillance especially in Selangor, Perak and Johor,” he said, adding that they were also using drones to identify hotspots, while the public can report fires by calling the 999 hotline.

Meanwhile, firemen have managed to put out 40 per cent of the 150ha fire along the Desaru-Pengerang Highway in Johor since March 21.

The Johor Fire and Rescue Department operations centre said it received an emergency call at 9.30pm on March 21 and a team from the Punggai Fire and Rescue Station was deployed to the site, about 6km away.

The fire involved forest and scrubs, with flames spreading rapidly due to strong winds. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK