JOHOR BARU: The Fire and Rescue Department is on full alert as it braces for a lashing monsoon season, with thousands of its personnel being mobilised throughout the country.

       Department director-general Datuk Seri Mohammad Hamdan Wahid, who revealed this, said 324 fire stations and 12,500 personnel were ready to assist.

       He said the drone unit was also being mobilised to conduct search and rescue operations.

       “The drones are equipped with infrared cameras to enable them to detect heat signatures at night and this is crucial during search and rescue operations. It is also able to conduct low altitude manoeuvres, ” he said in an interview.

       Mohammad Hamdan said the four drones had been used, among others, to monitor the floods in Pahang and forest fires, adding that it was more cost-effective compared to using the department’s helicopters.

       Extra help: Fire and Rescue Department personnel using a drone to carry out operations around flood-prone areas.

       He said the drones used infrared technology to pinpoint the exact location of a fire.

       “We are able to save on the use of manpower and equipment, and can also plan our operations based on the data provided,” he said, adding that there were plans to acquire more drones later on, subject to financial considerations.

       On the monsoon, he said the rainy season was expected to stretch until March based on information from the Meteorological Department.

       “Our focus will be on flood-prone states such as Johor, Pahang, Kelantan, Terengganu, Sabah and Sarawak,” he said.

       Mohammad Hamdan said the department had held coordinating meetings with other related agencies under the Malaysian National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma).

       He said that besides the drones, the department would also deploy its 550 boats to help during the monsoon period operation.

       “I have directed our personnel to be ready and to carry out simulation exercises as part of our preparations for the monsoon.

       “I have also told my officers to also work with volunteer firemen and local communities to ensure everyone knows what to do during a flood emergency. We need to be fully prepared while taking into account the Covid-19 pandemic too,” he added.

       Last month, severe flooding swept through parts of Sabah following heavy rainfall.

       There was a sea of destruction with uprooted trees, overturned vehicles and collapsed wooden structures in several districts in the state.

       Torrential downpours also “drowned” Shah Alam in waist-high floodwaters, with at least four housing areas and Stadium Shah Alam inundated.

       On manpower deployment, Mohammad Hamdan said that leave for firemen would be frozen if need be and if the situation worsened, the department would mobilise manpower and equipment from states not affected by floods.

       He advised people living near rivers and hillsides to be alert and to adhere to warnings from the authorities to evacuate at any time.

       The department’s operations director, Datuk Nor Hisham Mohammad Said, said that between last October and March this year, a total of 164 drownings occurred during the monsoon period.

       He said that over the same period from 2019 to 2020, 154 lives were lost. Most of the fatalities were due to drowning in rivers and streams, beaches, ponds and mining pools, with Sarawak and Johor registering the most cases.

       On the number of evacuees during the monsoon season, he said based on data from Nadma, 55,187 victims were evacuated last year and 110,207 in 2019.