Karhutla Hit 7 Districts In Hulu Sungai Selatan, South Kalimantan

Officers extinguished forest and land fires in Badaun Village, Hulu Sungai Selatan Regency, South Kalimantan, Saturday 29 July 2023. (ANTARA-HO-BPBD HSS)

SOUTH KALIMANTAN - A total of seven of the 11 sub-districts in Hulu Sungai Selatan (HSS) Regency, South Kalimantan Province (Kalsel) experienced forest and land fires (karhutla) in the past week.

Head of the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) HSS, Kusairi, said the number of burned areas could not be ascertained.

"But the hotspots this week are in West Daha, North Daha, South Daha, Kalumpang, Telaga Langsat, Simpur, and Sungai Raya sub-districts," he said in Kandangan, South Kalimantan, Monday, July 31.

On Saturday, July 29, the forest and land fires that hit Badaun Village, West Daha District which occurred at around 18.10 WITA and could only be extinguished at around 19.15 WITA.

The area of land burned in Baidaun Village is about 1.5 hectares. The type of land caught fire in the bush, with peatlands and with forest and land fires and with fire on the upper surface.

The fire spread on the land quite quickly but was successfully extinguished. The blackout involved elements of the PT Subur Agro Makmur (SAM) Emergency Preparedness and Response Team (TKTD), TNI-Polri, the sub-district task force, Tagana, Damkar, PMI, BPK/PMK, and the Fire Care Community (MPA).

Based on data from the South Kalimantan Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), the HSS region on Sunday, July 30, reportedly has the most hotspots with 73 hotspots.

The hotspots are spread over four sub-districts in HSS Regency, namely West Daha, South Daha, North Daha, and Kalumpang Districts.