PETALING JAYA, Feb 13 ― Malaysia is one week away from the danger of fire reaching “critical” levels, according to the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department director Datuk Wan Nor Ibrahim.

He said the department had been receiving more than 300 calls a day, most of which regarding fires, compared to the usual 100 or so calls.

“Since January 31, the calls have tripled and most of them were regarding bush fires started due to the hot and dry spell we are now facing,” he said.

The majority of the calls came from Selangor, Johor, Perak and Terengganu, where more than 70 reports of fire were recorded from each of the states.

“We are keeping close watch over some areas that we have identified as the hotspots,”  said Wan.

“We will conduct frequent checks to ensure that if any fire breaks out, we can put it out before it gets out of control.”

In Selangor, the hotspots are in Batu Arang and Banting, Batu Pahat in Johor, the stretch between Pekan and Kuantan in Pahang, and Dungun and Kemaman in Terengganu.

“These are vast areas with peat soil where fires will be very difficult to put out.

Wan said recent checks showed that ground water level in these hotspots was still at a safe level.

“The ground water will only reach the critical level if there has been a drought that went on completely without any rain interval for three weeks,” he said.

“So let us hope the drought would end soon.”

He advised the public to take precautionary measures.

“Try to reduce open burning activities as with the heat, even a small fire can spread. People should also make sure they put out their cigarette butts before throwing them anywhere near the grass or bushes,” he said.

Wan said most of the fire breakouts reported over the past two weeks were due to fire caused by littered cigarette butts that were not put out properly.