KLUANG, Sept 19 — Johor firefighters have been struggling for 15 hours to control the blaze at a textile factory in Jalan Teknologi 2, Mengkibol Industrial Area, here, since early this morning.
Johor Zone 3 Fire Superintendent (Operations commander) Mohamed Faiz Muin Mohamed Rasidi said, the fire which started as early as 2am had still not been completely doused until now (2pm).
He said, this was due to the fact the factory had arranged the cotton fabric compactly, thus making it difficult to extinguish the fire, even though firefighters have been at the scene since 2.42am.
“Extinguishing the fire was quite challenging because usually burning fabrics or textiles leave smouldering embers which can re-ignite small fires that can spread to nearby areas,” he said, adding that the factory had not been in operation for six months and at the time of the incident, no workers were at the premises.
Mohamed Faiz Muin added, the firefighting operation was still continuing involving four fire-engines and 35 personnel as well as four officers from the Kluang, Renggam and Ayer Hitam Fire and Rescue Stations.
“The rotation of personnel on duty also needs to be done as efforts to control the fire has been going on for more than 12 hours. At the same time, members on duty also need to ensure that the fire does not spread to other buildings by regularly spraying water on high-risk areas,” he told reporters at the scene. — Bernama
