The Joint Team Puts Out 7 Hectare Karhutla In Palangka Raya

PALANGKA RAYA - A joint team struggled to extinguish the forest and land fires (karhutla) that scorched seven hectares in Palangka Raya.

Member of the Bhabinkamtibmas Pahandut Police, Bukit Tunggal Village, Bripka Riswanto, said that his party was quick to extinguish the forest and land fires that occurred in the tip of Jalan Danau Rangas which scorched an area of seven hectares.

"Karhutla is known to have occurred based on information from the NASA-Modis satellite on an area of approximately seven hectares in this area. Then the blackout was carried out by a joint team of provincial Dishut, provincial BPNPK, Borneo Palangka Raya Team, TSAK Bukit Tunggal and Babinsa," he said as quoted by ANTARA, Tuesday, September 5.

He explained that the blackout effort was also carried out by a joint team starting at 11.15 WIB using facilities and infrastructure such as units of water portable pumps, water jets, hoses along with nozzles to fire engine vehicles.

The blackout was completed at around 15.39 WIB, then followed by restrictions on fire management and land cooling to ensure the hotspots in the interior of the soil were completely extinguished.

"This burned land will also be marked in order to monitor how it is in condition for some time to determine the cause of forest and land fires, while also coordinating with the task force regarding the next steps," said Riswanto.

Based on data compiled from the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of Palangka Raya City, there have been 259 forest and land fires in 2023. Even the area of land that has been burned in a number of locations so far has a total area of 190.73 hectares.

Of the 259 incidents, 156 times in Jekan Raya District, 40 times Pahandut, 58 times in Sebangau, Bukit Batu 5 times and Rakumpit there were no forest and land fires.