Kahutla Floods 435 Hectare of Mineral Land in West Kalimantan, 235 Hectare Has Been Extinguished

Fire extinguishing on mineral-peat land in West Kalimantan. ANTARA/HO-BNPB

West Kalimantan (Kalbar) province is surrounded by forest and land fires (karhutla) with a total affected area of approximately 435,578 hectares.

The area affected by the forest fire was mineral-peat land spread across 11 regencies and two cities from January 1 to February 11, 2026.

Head of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) Data, Information, and Communication Center, Abdul Muhari, said in Jakarta, Wednesday, quoted by Antara, as many as 235,331 hectares had been successfully extinguished.

BNPB reported that the affected areas included the cities of Singkawang and Pontianak and the districts of Kubu Raya, Sambas, Mempawah, Sintang, Melawi, Kayong Utara, Ketapang, Sanggau, Bengkayang, Landak, and Sekadau.

The details of the burned area include 157 hectares in Mempawah Regency, 139.7 hectares in Sambas, 101.7 hectares in Kubu Raya, 17.1 hectares in Ketapang, 14.578 hectares in Kayong Utara, 3.5 hectares in Sanggau, 1 hectare in Melawi, and 1 hectare in Singkawang City, while several other areas are still in the process of data collection.

BNPB noted that in the last update this morning there was an increase in the area burned of around 124,779 hectares. However, it is confirmed that there are no reports of casualties so far, and the cause of the fire is still under investigation by law enforcement officers.

The field handling is carried out in a coordinated manner by the West Kalimantan Provincial BPBD rapid response team together with the district and city BPBDs, TNI, Polri, Manggala Agni Ministry of Forestry, Forest Management Unit, Fire Care Society, Forestry Service, fire fighters, Indonesian Red Cross (PMI), and community elements.

A number of district governments have set emergency alert status, including Ketapang Regency on January 15 to April 15, 2026, Kubu Raya Regency on January 15 to December 31, 2026, Sambas Regency on January 19 to April 30, 2026, and Mempawah Regency on January 28 to December 31, 2026.

According to Abdul Muhari, in order to accelerate the control of forest fires, his party has prepared air support in the form of a water bombing fleet and aerial patrols, including the use of unmanned aerial vehicles to monitor the fire points, as well as strengthening land extinguishing through the distribution of additional pumps and hoses.