Pasir Gudang blaze believed sparked by attempt to recover scrap metal

A fire that occurred overnight in Pasir Gudang, Malaysia, is suspected to have been ignited when a pile of wood containing metal was set ablaze, likely to recover the scrap metal, before spreading to adjacent fibreglass floats. Johor Fire and Rescue Department director Siti Rohani Nadir shared that initial reports from witnesses suggested several men from a nearby village had deliberately set the wood pile on fire to extract the metal.

She emphasized that the blaze started along Jalan Muhibbah, not at a rubbish disposal site, as had been initially reported. The fire expanded to a pile of fibreglass floats, which, due to its combustible nature, exacerbated the spread of the flames. The nearest residential properties were situated approximately 15 meters from the affected zone.

The emergency services were alerted at 10.04pm the previous day, and firefighters from the Pasir Gudang and Johor Jaya fire and rescue stations reached the scene within seven minutes. As of today, the firefighting efforts were still active with no reported casualties. Siti Rohani assured that there was no urgent need to deploy the department's hazardous materials team to inspect for gas or chemical substances at the incident site.

Moreover, she stated that the fire had not yet impacted Pasir Gudang's Air Pollutant Index (API), which remained at 182 as of 11am.