Bushfire at Muara-Tutong slip road

A bushfire occurred today (5 September 2012, Wednesday) at the slip road heading to Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD), Muara Tutong Highway. The bushfire occurred few minutes after the UBD Convo Festival launching ceremony which are held at the nearby UBD complex.

The firefighters from Rimba FS and BFRD Special Squad during standby at UBD Convo Festival 2012 launching ceremony, few minutes after they returned to station they were alerted to the Bushfire at Muara-Tutong Highway

According to the firefighter they received emergency call from the public on the bushfire around 11am few minutes after they returned from standby at the UBD Convo Festival 2012 launching ceremony. A team of 10 firefighters and Special Squad personnel in two fire engines lead by Deputy Station Officer (DSO) Mapan rushed to the scene. Upon arrival most of the bushes had been raged by fire. The firefighters had to rushed to fight the fire in order to prevent traffic congestion during the rush hour at the highway due to the thick smoke rising from the fire. They also faced difficulties as there are no fire hydrants at the area and they had to take turns filling their fire engines tanks at UBD fire hydrants. It took the firefighters nearly an hour to control and extinguish the blaze as the bushes are filled with thick vegetation waste from the trees.

One of the firefighters when interviewed said “This is the third time the bushfire occurred at the same place, before this two similar fire had occurred nearby. Although the main cause is the dry and hot weather but we suspect it was human cause as we found a suspicious object which looks like a fire torch discarded at the bush” He also applaud the members of public for informing the department early on the incident as if it left spreading it can cause unnecessary incident occurred at the highway.