BPBD: 15 Hectares Of Forests And Residents' Gardens In South Bangka Burned

SOUTH BANGKA - An area of 15 hectares of forest and gardens of residents in South Bangka Regency, Bangka Belitung Islands (Babel), caught fire due to the dry season.

Head of the BPBD Section of South Bangka Regency Wardi Zoel Latif Wardi in Toboali, Friday, said 15 hectares of vacant land and residents' gardens in the South Bangka Regency Government GOR area were scorched as drought hit the area during the dry season.

"We had problems extinguishing the fire because the narrow road access was difficult for fire engines to pass," he said as quoted by ANTARA, Friday, September 15.

Firefighters, he continued, managed to extinguish the fire after breaking through a hundreds of meters long footpath to the hotspots.

"The average thing that caught fire was the residents' gardens that were overgrown with palm oil, some of which were empty with dry conditions," he said.

His party deployed dozens of officers and two fire engines to extinguish the fire that had spread to residents' villages.

"We are indeed struggling and moving quickly to extinguish the fire, also assisted by a number of residents because we are worried that the fire could spread to the village," he said.

The fire fighting team only managed to extinguish the fire after four hours of watering and isolating the village area.

"The fire was completely extinguished at around 16.00 WIB, but some teams remained on standby at the location because they were worried that there were still hotspots that had not been successfully extinguished," he said.

His party could not confirm where the source of the fire was caused by the fire, but residents were advised to put away cigarette butts more carefully because it could cause a fire.

"We have appealed to residents to stop burning land, burn garbage, and don't throw cigarette butts carelessly," he said.