He said that the department had in addition to land clearing, employed the ‘water bombing’ method since 9am to put out the fire.

The department will continue with its fire-fighting efforts to put out another peat fire involving another 20 hectares tomorrow morning, he said.

"This peat fire is further away from the  Hamidah Yakub Welfare Complex, unlike earlier in the day when it was just 30 metres away,” he said when contacted by Bernama tonight.

Law said that the department had decided on using the ‘water bombing’ method as it (fire) was fast spreading towards the complex which houses orphans and children from economically-deprived backgrounds. 

Law said the the operation was carried out jointly with the Miri  Fire Department’s Air Unit which also sought assistance from the ground in discharging 1,590 litres of water in a single exercise, focusing each time on just one confined site of the fire-stricken area.

He had earlier said that while the fire had been put out over a small area, there was still smoke coming out from the ground

The complex is owned by the Sarawak Orphans Welfare Association (Peryatim) and is home to 90 children aged between seven and 19 years, from multiracial backgrounds.

With the week-long mid-term school break which starts today, it is believed told that the children had left the complex to join their relatives or found temporary accommodation elsewhere.

--BERNAMA