Firefighters have successfully extinguished about half of the forest fire that broke out at Niah National Park in Sarawak, with aerial water bombing operations continuing to tackle the remaining blaze.
The fire, which was reported on Monday, is believed to have been triggered by a lightning strike that ignited trees at two locations — the slopes of Traders Cave and Kuala Hangus, both within the Greater Cave area of the national park.
A spokesperson for the Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) Operations Centre said the department received an emergency call about the incident at 2pm on Monday.
Firefighters from the Batu Niah Fire and Rescue Station were immediately deployed and found the fire burning about 2.9 kilometres from the Niah National Park office.
The operation team trekked 2.9 kilometres to the Tangap Community Stall Hut before continuing another kilometre on foot to reach the affected area.
However, firefighting efforts on the first day were unsuccessful due to the extremely challenging terrain, including steep rocky paths leading to the fire at the summit of the Niah limestone hills, making the area difficult to access.
As a result, firefighters were only able to monitor the situation and confirmed that the blaze did not pose an immediate threat to nearby communities.
Following discussions with the Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC), Niah National Park was temporarily closed to the public as a precautionary measure, while regular monitoring continued, particularly along the trail leading to Traders Cave.
The operation resumed on Tuesday, with firefighters returning to the site at 9am before receiving approval to deploy a helicopter from the JBPM Air Unit to assist with aerial firefighting.
An MI-17 helicopter arrived at the SMK Subis field at 2.30pm and departed 10 minutes later to carry out water bombing operations, drawing water from the Niah River before dropping it over the affected areas in the national park.
Aerial firefighting operations concluded at 4.20pm, but the blaze was not fully extinguished, and efforts to put out the remaining fire will continue.
Authorities estimate that about four acres of forest have been affected. So far, two acres have been successfully extinguished, while another two acres remain on fire. No injuries or casualties have been reported.
The operation involves 17 personnel from the Batu Niah Fire and Rescue Station, supported by a Fire Rescue Tender (FRT), a Toyota Hilux, an MI-17 helicopter, and five officers from the Sarawak Forestry Corporation.
Firefighters also faced operational challenges, including poor mobile phone coverage and the absence of Government Integrated Radio Network (GIRN) coverage in the area.
