Landa Fire 3 Hectares Of Land In Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan

Fires hit about three hectares of land with four large-scale hotspots and six small-scale hotspots in Ulin District, Banjarbaru City, South Kalimantan, Wednesday (17/5/2023). (ANTARA/Tumpal Andani Aritonang)

The fire hit about three hectares of land with four large-scale hotspots and six small-scale hotspots in Ulin District, Banjarbaru City, South Kalimantan.

According to Antara journalists at the location, the flames were still rising high along with a puff of smoke until 19.20 WITA, Wednesday, May 17.

Based on information, the land fire has occurred since Wednesday afternoon, which is suspected to be because people want to clear garden land.

Six small-scale hotspots are expected to get bigger and spread to other lands.

The land fire is estimated to be two kilometers from the settlements of local residents.

By night, no officers have extinguished the source of the fire around the scene.

Previously, the Regional Disaster Management Agency of South Kalimantan Province (BPBD South Kalimantan) raised the alert status of forest and land fires (Karhutla) after a land fire broke out in the Banjarbaru City area on Sunday (14/5) afternoon.

"The forest and land fires that occurred yesterday are not in big condition, but even so, we are increasing personnel guarding to anticipate yesterday's incident from happening again," said the Daily Executor (Plh) of the Head of the South Kalimantan BPBD Bambang Dedi Mulyadi in Banjarbaru, Monday (15/5).

Bambang said South Kalimantan BPBD officers patrolled areas prone to three to four times a day.

Bambang said that what happened was not due to human activities in the local area, but due to the hot weather that hit South Kalimantan.

"Karhutla is due to extreme weather which is quite hot, but currently the area prone to forest and land fires is still raining in the last few days," said Bambang.

He appealed to people in areas prone to forest and land fires to always be vigilant, not throw cigarette butts carelessly and always coordinate and report to officers when finding hotspots.

According to him, all the Karhutla Alert Teams have worked optimally because they are always responsive when receiving reports from the public, such as the fire incident in the Banjarbaru area last Sunday (14/5).