10 Hectares Of Forest And Land Fires In East Kalimantan PPU Successfully Extinguished, BPBD Disburses Access To Obstacles

JAKARTA - The Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) has succeeded in overcoming fires on peatlands in 10 locations in Penajam Paser Utara (PPU), East Kalimantan (Kaltim). "We together with a number of related parties succeeded in extinguishing 10 cases of forest and land fires over the past two months with an area of 20 hectares," explained the Head of BPBD PPU Budi Santoso Regency in Penajam, Friday, August 18, confiscated by Antara. The most cases of forest and land fires occurred in the Penajam sub-district area, because the majority of the land in the area was a peatland that was easily burned. "The forest and land fires that were successfully extinguished, the largest with an area of eight hectares occurred in Petung Village, Penajam District on Thursday (17 August)," he added. The equipment owned by the North Penajam Paser Regency BPBD is currently still safe and sufficient, as well as the number of personnel is also adequate to extinguish forest and land fires. The obstacle when extinguishing forest and land fires is access to the location of fires that cannot be traversed by motorized vehicles so they must be traveled on foot by carrying equipment.

Then at the location of forest fires and land, water sources are running low or no water sources are needed for extinguishing, so the blackout is carried out manually by making barriers around the fire. BPBD North Penajam Paser Regency and related agencies also continue to disseminate information to the community to anticipate forest and land fires in the local area. The community and the company are reminded not to open the land by burning, and to ask residents not to throw cigarette butts in flammable land, because during the dry season it can trigger fires, said Budi Santoso.