KUALA LUMPUR (AP): A team of 125 Malaysian firefighters left Monday for Indonesia's Sumatra Island to assist the fewer than 500 people using buckets, water pumps and garden hoses to fightblazes that have enveloped much of Malaysia with acrid smoke since the beginning of August.
The team, which included disaster management experts, was expected to be there for at least two weeks to help in efforts to put out the fires, which were mostly illegally set by plantation owners, logging companies and poor farmers to clear land.
"Hopefully it won't take too long," the Fire Department's head of public relations, Norizan Sulaiman, told The Associated Press.
Australia, which was not affected by the haze, announced on Monday it was sending an emergency assessment team including 12 bush fire experts to Indonesia this week.
Thailand, which warned motorists and fisherman in parts of its southern provinces to stay home over the weekend because of poor visibility from the haze, has also indicated it would be willing to send firefighters to help if asked.
Malaysia planned to crack down on local oil palm plantation owners who illegally burned agricultural waste Sunday, causing thick smoke to surround Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Sunday, a day after haze from the Indonesian fires had dissipated.(*)
Taken from The Jakarta Post
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