Mount Guntur Fire In Garut, BBKSDA Insists On Burning Blocks To Prevent Embezzling

The joint apple apparatus ahead of the anticipation of the spread of forest fires on Mount Guntur, Garut, Wednesday (21/8/2024). (ANTARA/Feri Purnama)

The forest fire on Mount Guntur has been under control. The red rooster engulfed the mountain in Garut Regency since Monday 19 August 2024.

"The handling of forest and land fires, especially in Guntur since yesterday until today the fire has begun to be controlled," said West Java BBKSDA Young Forest Police Agung Firmansyah on the sidelines of the operation to extinguish forest land fires in Garut, Wednesday, August 1, which was confiscated by Antara.

He said joint officers were currently monitoring and carrying out a fuel barrier system to cut off the former burned land so as not to burn other forest land.

The partition, he said, is currently focused on the Citiis Block area as a hiking trail for the Tarogong Kaler District where there are animal and plant habitat areas that must be maintained.

"By burning the barrier, so that the fire does not spread to locations that have not been burned, so our team is focused on the Citiis Block on the hiking trail," he said.

He said the location of the forest land fire occurred in the Cigenjreng Block, Cilopang Block, and Tegal Saeutik Block with an area of approximately 200 hectares of burned land.

"The current burned area is estimated at 200 hectares from yesterday until now, and now Alhamdulillah Mount Guntur has started to smokeless," he said.

The head of the Tarogong Kaler Police, Iptu Sona Rahadian Amus, added that the forest fire was only discovered on Monday, August 19, 2024 night. Then the joint officers extinguished it, but the fire could not be tamed.

He conveyed that the process of extinguishing the blaze was quite difficult, because the location was quite far away which could not be reached by motorized vehicles, especially by fire engines.

"The fire points are in the forest, and we make sure they are not close to residential areas of residents' houses," he said.