Three Hectares Of Forest And Land In South Aceh Burnt

Photo via BNPB

JAKARTA – Forest and land fires (karhutla) occurred in several areas in South Aceh Regency, Aceh Province, Saturday, July 23. There were three hectares of land burned in the incident.

The BNPB Operations Control Center reported that the first incident took place on Saturday, 14.30 WIB.

The fires were identified in Padang Harapan Village and Baro Village, Trumon District. The Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of South Aceh Regency is still conducting an assessment of the trigger for the forest and land fires.

BPBD reported about 1.5 hectares of land burned. As of this morning, Sunday (24/7) there has been no report on the development of the fire hotspots in the affected locations.

The BPBD of South Aceh Regency together with related elements carried out the blackout. Personnel from the 06 Trumon and 05 Bakongan Fire Stations (Damkar) have arrived at the location. They used wooden sticks to put out a small fire.

Next, a similar incident also occurred in Ujong Padang and Baro Villages, Bakongan District, South Aceh, Saturday (23/7), at 20.20 WIB. About 1.5 hectares of land also burned in the area.

Responding to the widespread occurrence of forest and land fires, the South Aceh Regency BPBD together with the TNI, Polri, Firefighters and residents were at the location to extinguish the fire.

The fire was extinguished and BPBD officers assessed the cause of the incident. Judging from the level of flammability in the top layer of the soil surface last Saturday, the affected area was in the low category.

Observed on the Sipongi dashboard of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Sunday morning (24/7), satellite imagery does not show identification of hotspots with a high level of confidence in the Aceh Province area.

Meanwhile, in the inaRISK study, Central Aceh District has 13 sub-districts with moderate to high potential for forest and land fires hazards. Two of the areas with this potential are Trumon and Bakongan sub-districts which were affected by the karhulta last Saturday.

BNPB appealed to local governments and residents to remain vigilant and alert to the potential for forest fires in the region.

Residents can assist in monitoring and supervision in their respective areas and immediately inform BPBD in case of hotspots or smoke. Prevention of hotspots early is better than extinguishing when the fire has grown.