Each day, the Fire and Rescue Department responds to more than 300 fire and rescue calls nationwide.
The role of a firefighter has evolved from getting cats safely down from trees and putting out house fires to more complex rescues carried out on land, sea and air.
In an interview with StarMetro in conjunction with International Firefighters Day today, the department’s new director-general Datuk Nor Hisham Mohammad talks about the department’s role and challenges in the future.
He also shares his vision on the department’s core duties of saving lives, conducting rescue operations, fighting fires, maintaining public fire safety and the use of artificial intelligence in firefighting.
Nor Hisham says the department is concentrating efforts on how to handle mass evacuations.
Each year, the dry spell caused by the El Nino phenomenon sees bush and forest fires ignite nationwide. How is the department coping and how can the public help?
In the last two years, we have been experiencing wet El Nino which resulted in flooding. This year, we are back to regular El Nino, which will result in a lot of forest fires. The public needs to be careful and not carry out slash-and-burn activities which can cause widespread fires.
In the north, people used to burn rice hay, which can cause fires, but now, they use it as livestock food and so, this burning practice has decreased.
We are fortunate that despite some carrying out irresponsible activities, there are also many who alert us to these fires.
Preparations for these fires include making sure our fire stations are properly equipped and working with the Environment Department to carry out surveillance in hotspot areas. Overall, fires are on an upward trend now and we need the public’s help to keep it from worsening.
Nor Hisham (standing, centre) overseeing a rescue operation during the Batang Kali tragedy in Selangor, which killed 31 people, in 2022. With him is Fire and Rescue Dept special rescue team head M. Murugiah (left).
What are the new challenges faced when tackling natural disasters, forest fires, and floods?
According to the National Fire Command and Control Centre, we have 652 fire hotspots and 5,648 flood hotspots nationwide, as climate change has resulted in fires or floods happening in non-traditional areas. Previously, areas in Chaah, Johor, were not flood-prone but the place was badly affected in the last round of floods.
People in Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang are always affected by floods but when it occurs in non-traditional areas, then it can cause panic and chaos similar to the 2021 floods, which hit 22 areas in Shah Alam and Sepang by surprise.
Now, we are concentrating our efforts on how to handle mass evacuations. We have been conducting drills and collaborating with the police on the command structure when such disasters hit. We are also sending officers to attend seminars and conferences overseas, such as in China, to be better prepared for evacuations of between 50,000 and 100,000 people. It is important for us to improve our command and control structure, use data effectively to forecast any disaster, and adapt experiences from other countries.
Firemen transporting food supply to Orang Asli villages in Gua Musang, Kelantan on Jan 4 this year.
Each year, billions of ringgit in assets are lost in fires. What are the new trends noticed and how can these fires be prevented?
Last year, two major fires in Selangor and Sarawak resulted in losses of RM500mil. Before that, there was a fire at a refinery in Pengerang, Johor, which also resulted in huge losses. If we remove these big cases, we do not see any new trends but we are taking a two-prong approach in hopes of reducing the number of fires and amount of losses.
One involves legislation via our fire certificate of high-risk buildings or properties which contain high-value items. We are hoping that by 2026, there will be legislation to ensure all 8,900 buildings with fire certificates will have a fire safety manager – trained and certified by the department – who will be our eyes and ears. Secondly, I have set a target for the department to carry out enforcement checks on 17,000 premises nationwide this year.
What about all the mega skyscrapers being built around the country – is the department ready to handle emergency cases there?
Malaysia is among the top 10 countries in the world with super high-rises, which are more than 150m or 50 floors. Presently, we have six buildings namely KL Tower, Kuala Lumpur City Centre, TRX Exchange, Menara Merdeka 118, Four Seasons and Menara TM.
As such, we are proposing the formation of a “super tall” council to regulate such buildings and develop guidelines to monitor them. We hope to have our maiden meeting in June this year.
A demonstration of a search and rescue operation in conjunction with the launch of Jambatan Sultan Nazrin Shah in Bagan Datuk, Perak, on Oct 7 last year. - Courtesy photos
When a building catches fire, we tell people to use the staircase. How is a person on the 50th floor going to walk down during an emergency?
Such buildings need to have a trained lift operator who will be able to ferry people down during a fire. Also, people need not head all the way to the bottom as these buildings usually have a common place midway, which can be a gathering point. We have started to train Nepali security guards in Kuala Lumpur on what they need to do during a fire at residential high-rises.
Are factories deliberately torched to claim insurance compensation? How does the department deal with those who flout fire safety regulations?
There could be such cases, but it is not rampant. We have good fire investigation teams and all structural fires are investigated in detail to determine the cause. If it is arson, the police will investigate as it involves insurance claims.
We will submit all our findings to the police for them to continue with the investigation or prosecution. However, we carry out investigations and prosecutions if there is fire abatement or fire risk. Between 2021 and 2023, we have issued 1,613 notices, including taking legal action against 19 premises.
How many volunteer fire squads and cadets are there nationwide and how do you rate their performance? Also, how is the department managing them?
We have trimmed down volunteer squads from 405 (four years ago) to 367. This works out to 8,002 volunteer firemen nationwide. We conducted a vetting exercise and only kept the active ones. This year, we hope to boost the number to 374 squads.
In the past, we fought for an annual allowance of RM3,000 per squad and now the government has increased it to RM5,000. This is a form of recognition from the government for their effort and sacrifices. This money is used for maintenance and operations.
Almost all squads have their own equipment, with 240 squads having their own fire engines. In fact, a volunteer group from Selangor even has a helicopter.
Many say these volunteers always wait for funding from the government. I want to change that mindset and show them that if they can perform and deliver, people will not mind donating to support them.
What is your vision and mission for the department? What is your message to your more than 14,000 firefighters?
I have been in the service for 27 years. Many ask me how I plan to propel the department forward. For me, it is simple, we already have a 10-year blueprint known as the National Fire and Rescue Policies, which will guide the department until 2031.
There are four core aspects of this blueprint with 102 action plans and 255 initiatives.
For me, I am holding on to four important principles, which is for my men to always think big and act small, work more with less, act with honesty and integrity, and always work according to pattern and norm.
Last year, the department was allocated RM1.05bil for operating expenses and RM111.2mil for development. We also opened four new fire stations, which now brings our total number to 337 nationwide.
We are constantly looking at improving our national response time of 9 minutes and 30 seconds, including using technology to help us find the fastest routes especially during peak hours or heavy traffic.
Each year, the department gets thousands of applications for firefighters. Many are overqualified. Why is this job so sought-after?
Besides wanting a government job, people love this service, especially the concept of fighting fires and saving people. Each year, we get about 40,000 applications. During the Covid-19 pandemic, we received about 120,000 applications. We have 13,265 personnel and 1,483 vacancies. It is good that the men in red have a good name as we are always looking for the cream of the crop to fill vacancies. This also shows the public’s trust in the service.
The firefighters wear their uniform with pride. We credit our past leaders for initiating transformation programmes in the department over the years.
Even for me, I was a fire cadet in school and worked in the private sector before I decided to take a pay cut and join the service as a fire officer. I have a degree in environment studies from Universiti Malaya and I knew that the department will be involved in environmental impact assessments, so I decided to apply and got in on my first attempt. I have always wanted to fight fires and conduct rescues.
That is why even until today, wherever there is a mishap or major incident, I am on the ground with my men.
With artificial intelligence (AI) being used in many fields now, is the fire department using such technology and what do you foresee its use is in the future?
We started using AI about four years ago – by equipping our air unit with infrared drones. These can be used to pinpoint the location of fires. This technology not only determines the location but also the depth of the fire. In future, I hope AI can help find the heat signature of victims trapped inside buildings and allow us to carry out rescue operations. I am sure with rapid changes in technology, this will be a reality soon.
Besides this, we have also allocated RM1mil for a kind of smart map to advise us which station is nearest to a scene and how to get there in the quickest possible time. The good thing about this system is that we can inform the caller about how long it will take a fire engine to reach the scene.
As part of our digitalisation agenda, we are also investing RM49mil in the construction of a centre of command, control, communications, computers and intelligence (C4i) to enhance our level of efficiency. One of the key features of this system is the use of radio frequency identification (RFID) in our asset management.
At the moment, we manually check all our items every day. For a pilot project, they would be using the system in the Klang Valley. Our engines will also be equipped with dashcams, which will feed information to our command centre.
International Firefighters Day this year is being held in Perak. What are the highlights of the celebration?
This year, we are roping in the private sector and community in our celebrations. We also hope to showcase our volunteer fire squads and their equipment. We will be launching special commemorative stamps and first day covers as well, and hope to launch a new junior programme for children too.
