Sarawak’s forests are renowned for being home to eight out of the world’s 54 species of hornbills and the fires in Miri are likely to last a week. – Reuters file pic, February 22, 2016.
Forest fires spread more than 202ha in the north of Sarawak have raised air pollution to hazardous levels today in areas close to the inferno, government data showed.
The fires have spurred an emergency response from the state Fire and Rescue Department, which is at the same time scrambling to manage nearly 8,000 people displaced by floods in Sarawak’s southern region as of this morning, according to national news agency Bernama.