Karhutla Expands In Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan

Motorcyclists watched the flames quite large that occurred in the Liang Anggang District, Banjarbaru City, Monday (14/8/2023) afternoon and evening. (ANTARA/Ho-Screenshot of video)

BANJARBARU - Liang Anggang Police Chief Kompol Yudha Kumoro Pardede said the impact of forest and land fires (karhutla) is increasingly widespread in the Liang Anggangm District, Banjarbaru City, South Kalimantan (Kalsel).

The blowing of the wind was quite strong, making the flames even bigger.

The flames appeared quite extensive around the forest and vacant land in the area of RT03 Jalan Pengayuan Ujung, Liang Anggang District, Monday, August 14.

The flames were large enough to cause the spread of white smoke and thick black smoke.

"The fire is still growing and a number of fire engines and personnel are still moving to the location to extinguish the fire," Yudha said as quoted by ANTARA.

The flames were quite large and spread to the point of approaching a number of residents' houses in the vicinity. Dozens of TNI-Polri personnel together with BPBD officers and volunteers who were members of the fire engines tried hard to extinguish the fire.

Officers had difficulty extinguishing the hotspots due to lack of water sources around the location, so personnel waited for the water tanker to spray the fire.

"Fire trucks continue to arrive, both from Banjarbaru and Banjar Regency to fire engines launching from Banjarmasin City, to assist the extinguishing process," he said.

The cause of the fire is not yet known, including the area of the burned land, because the focus is on extinguishing the fire so that it does not spread further.

The fire extinguishing was also carried out by air using a water bombing helicopter for locations that were difficult to reach.

Previously, the Mayor of Banjarbaru Muhammad Aditya Mufti Ariffin moved quickly to alert a number of joint personnel to tackle the potential for forest and land fires.

Disaster management readiness of forest and land fires is carried out through a joint rally of TNI, Polri, BPBD, and volunteers at the Rudy Resnawan Banjarbaru Sports Hall, Monday.

"All are on standby and we hope that all joint personnel, both the TNI-Polri, BPBD, Firefighters, and volunteers, unite to prevent and anticipate forest and land fires," he said.