Peat Land Fires Are Increasingly Widespread In Palangka Raya City

Illustration of forest fires (ANTARA)

PALANGKA RAYA - The peatland fire is increasingly widespread in Palangka Raya City, Central Kalimantan, Sunday 13 August. At least, 5 hectares of peatlands located in the Petuk Ketimpun Village area, Jekan Raya District, Palangka Raya City, were burned down.

Dozens of joint personnel consisting of BPBD Palangka Raya City, officers from the Forestry Service of Central Kalimantan Province, Manggala Agni, TNI-Polri, and volunteers, were immediately deployed to extinguish the fire.

The thick gusts of wind and the large number of shrubs that dried up made the flames even bigger, accompanied by thick puffs of smoke.

Using a water source in the form of a ditch around the burning peatlands, joint officers finally managed to extinguish the blaze after struggling for almost 3 hours.

Head of BPBD Palangka Raya City, Emi Abriyani, said that the land fire that occurred in the Palangka Raya City area is currently suspected to be due to the intentional nature of the land owner who wants to clean his land.

"The current peatland fire incident in Palangka Raya City can occur three to four times in different locations, even at the same time. We together with the forest and land fires task forces share tasks to carry out extinguishing efforts in several locations," said Emi.

Based on temporary data, said Emi, the number of peatland fires in the Palangka Raya City area has reached 114 times, with a burned area of 61.33 hectares. Meanwhile, the police are currently continuing to carry out investigations to uncover the perpetrators of the burning of the peatland.

Responding to the high intensity of forest and land fires that occurred when entering the peak of the dry season, the Central Kalimantan Provincial Government through the Disaster Management and Fire Fighting Agency (BPBK) has alerted 35 field posts to anticipate the increasingly widespread peatland fires.

The city of Palangka Raya itself has become one of 8 regions that are of special concern in dealing with forest and land fires in the Central Kalimantan region, apart from South Barito Regency, West Kotawaringin, East Kotawaringin, Seruyan, Katingan, Kapuas, and Sukamara.