Forest and Land Fire in Tuanggeo Sikka, NTT Spreads to 2 Villages, 87 Hectares of Langan Scorched by Fire

NTT - At least three villages in Palue District, Sikka, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), experienced forest and land fires (karhutla) covering an area of ​​87 hectares. The forest and land fires hit the villages of Tuanggeo, Rokirole and Lidi.

"The size of the fire area reached 87 hectares for three villages, but the biggest impact was Rokirole Village with 80 hectares," said the Head of Palue Subdistrict in Palue, Sikka, NTT, Wednesday 13 September, reported by Antara.

He explained that forest and land fires started in Tuanggeo Village on September 8 2023 and spread to two other villages.

The fire had an impact on people's food losses, namely sweet potatoes, green beans, bananas and corn.

Meanwhile, commodity crops affected are cashew nuts, coconuts and cocoa, as well as other agricultural equipment.

"As many as 45 units of the residents' barns, which were also a place to store residents' food, were destroyed by fire, their contents could not be saved due to strong gusts of wind and intense heat," he said.

Based on recorded data, 57 heads of families (KK) in Tuanggeo Village, 169 families in Rokirole Village, and 150 families in Lidi Village were affected by the agricultural land fire.

Rudolfus said that the sub-district and three village governments were working to extinguish the fire which was still burning this afternoon while collecting further data on losses.

He also appealed to the public to be alert and not take actions that could cause the fire to spread.

"The fires in Tuanggeo, Rokirole and Lidi villages have not yet been completely extinguished, so we must be alert and take preventative steps so that they do not have a wider impact," he said.