East Kalimantan Hotspots Drop, BMKG Still Urges Forest Fires To Beware

Archives - Air monitoring of forest and land fires in Sungai Parit Village, North Penajam Paser Regency (PPU), East Kalimantan, on Saturday (13/4/2024). (ANTARA/HO-Pusdalops PPU Regency)

BALIKPAPAN- The Balikpapan Station Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) in its monitoring detected a decrease in the number of hotspots in East Kalimantan Province (Kaltim), from 383 points on Wednesday, April 17 to 202 points on Thursday, April 18.

The Coordinator for Data and Information at the Sultan Aji Muhammad Sulaiman Class I Station (SAMS) Sepinggan BMKG Balikpapan, Diyan Novrida, said that all parties must remain vigilant and remind each other to prevent forest and land fires (karhutla), such as not burning while managing land.

He said that vigilance needs to be done because a number of areas are still experiencing hot weather in a few consecutive days, so this causes branches, branches, and dried leaves that are prone to fires. "Each hot spot is monitored from 01.00 to 24.00 WITA every day," he said in Balikpapan, quoted from ANTARA, Friday, April 19.

The distribution of hotspots has been conveyed to related parties such as the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), Manggala Agni, Fire Care Community, Fire Rescue and Extinguishing Service at the provincial and district/city levels so that further action can be taken.

On Wednesday, April 17, which was observed at 383 hotspots, spread over six areas, namely Samarinda (1), Bontang (3), West Kutai Regency (23), East Kutai (211), Kutai Kartanegara (103), and Berau Regency (42). Meanwhile, 202 points monitored throughout Thursday, April 18, were spread across five districts, namely Paser (1), West Kutai (8), East Kutai (112), Kutai Kartanegara (55), and Berau Regency (26).

Distribution per sub-district, among others, in Paser Regency, is in Pasir Belengkong District with a level of intermediate confidence, eight points in West Kutai are in Bongan and Jempang Districts with four points each with an intermediate level of trust. "In Berau, 26 points were observed spread over three sub-districts, namely Kelay District (12), Gunung Tabur (1), and Segah District (13), all of which have a middle level of trust," said Diyan.