Kaltara Police Deployed 35 Personnel to Put Out Land Fire in Bulungan

TANJUNG SELOR - The North Kalimantan Police (Kaltara) deployed 35 joint personnel from the Samapta Directorate and the Brimob Unit to put out a fire on about two hectares of peat land on Jalan Ahmad Yani, the Bulungan-Berau Km 5 axis, Tanjung Selor District, Bulungan Regency.

Head of Public Relations of the Kaltara Police, Kombes Slamet Wahyudi, said that the fire burned the plantation land owned by a resident named Martin. Personnel moved quickly after receiving a report of the fire to prevent the fire from spreading to the forest area around the location.

"The personnel deployed consisted of 20 members of the Dit Samapta led by Ipda Wisnu Krida Bayu Pamungkas and 15 members of Satbrimob led by Iptu Muji Santoso," said Kombes Slamet, Wednesday, August 5.

To put out the fire, the team deployed a number of operational fleets, including forest and land fire control (Karhutla) vehicles, namely the Armoured Water Cannon (AWC) car, Isuzu D-Max, and two-wheeled vehicles to reach the fire point.

"35 joint personnel were immediately deployed to carry out the fire. The main focus is to control the fire so that it does not spread to the forest area and ensure that there are no remaining fire points," he said.

The extinguishing process faced a number of obstacles such as a location in the form of a cliff which is about 100 meters from vehicle access, limited water sources.

"Strong winds, to the characteristics of peat soil which causes the embers to survive below the surface," explained Slamet.

"Officers managed to control the flames and continue the cooling process (cooling down) to the lower layers of the ground to ensure that the fire is completely extinguished," he continued.

Slamet ensured that there were no casualties in the incident. After the extinguishing process was completed, Dit Samapta Polda Kaltara coordinated with Piket Samapta Polresta Bulungan for further handling including investigating the cause of the fire.

"Community participation is very important in preventing forest fires. We invite all residents not to burn land and immediately report if they find a fire point," he concluded.