One Person Dies While Breaking Through Karhutla in Ketapang, West Kalimantan

ILLUSTRATION PIXABAY

PONTIANAK - A resident was reported to have died when a forest and land fire (karhutla) hit Ketapang Regency, West Kalimantan, while extinguishing efforts at a number of points have so far been carried out by a joint team.

"The victim allegedly broke through the smoke when he was about to go home. It is likely that the victim fainted due to lack of oxygen, then on the right and left sides of the road there was a fire so that the victim died in a state of burning," said Head of the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) Ketapang Regency Yunifar Purwantoro as reported by ANTARA, Wednesday, August 5.

He said the victim allegedly fell while crossing an area filled with thick smoke, losing consciousness before his body caught fire at the scene.

In addition to the deceased, BPBD also received a report that an elderly citizen had suffered burns and had been evacuated to Dr. Agoesdjam Ketapang Hospital for medical treatment.

On the other hand, Yunifar said that the forest fire conditions in Ketapang until now have not been fully controlled. The joint team is still carrying out early morning extinguishing and was again deployed to the field in the morning.

According to him, the "water bombing" helicopter began to be operated to assist in extinguishing in a number of priority locations, including the Pelang and Bukit Gunung Skuri Village areas in the Sungai Laur District, which were of concern due to their vulnerability.

Water bombing is a technique for extinguishing fires from the air by dropping large amounts of water or chemical liquids using helicopters or special aircraft.

BPBD estimates that the area of land burned in the Pelang Village area has reached more than 40 hectares. Efforts to extinguish the land are still hampered by the difficulty of obtaining water sources at the fire location.

"The main obstacle in the field is the very limited water source. Therefore, 'water bombing' operations are very needed, especially in locations that are difficult to reach by land teams," he said.

He hopes that the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) can place patrol helicopters and 'water bombing' at Rahadi Oesman Ketapang Airport so that the response to handling forest fires can be carried out faster.

He added that fire points had been found in almost all sub-districts in Ketapang Regency.

Therefore, the public is asked not to open land by burning and immediately report to the officers if they find a fire point to prevent the fire from spreading.