Firefighting efforts at the ongoing peatland fire in Taman Bayu Damai township in Pengerang municipality in Johor's Kota Tinggi district has reached nearly 55 per cent completion following the use of helicopters for aerial firefighting. AsiaOne reported on Tuesday (Jan 27) that the fire had affected an area of about 99.54ha, with the involvement of helicopters on Wednesday expected to speed up firefighting efforts, according to a senior fire department official. Firefighters also deployed firebreak techniques such as flooding to contain the fire, which started last Friday (Jan 23), and have since put out fires across 54.63ha, or 54.8 per cent of the affected area. Bernama reported Assistant Fire Commissioner Muhammad Al Mustakim Abdul Hady, deputy director at Johor's fire and rescue department, as saying that the department is closely monitoring the smoke situation to ensure that it does not affect the airspace of Singapore.  Read more