Forest And Land Fires In North Penajam Paser Area 81.76 Hectares In 3 Months

Illustration. The Manggala Agni Karhutla Task Force is struggling to be surrounded by smoke to extinguish the forest and land fires in Liang Anggang Village, Tanah Laut Regency, South Kalimantan, Wednesday, August 2, 2023. (ANTARA-Tumpal A A)

Forest and land fires (karhutla) in Penajam Paser Utara (PPU), East Kalimantan (Kaltim), covering an area of 81.76 hectares in the last 3 months. PPU Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), Budi Santoso, in PPU, East Kalimantan, Monday, September 4, was confiscated by Antara. The forest and land fires that occurred in early September 2023 occurred in the Petung Village area and around the Nenang Market area in Penajam District. The number of cases of forest and land fires recorded is based on reports of handling carried out by BPBD and the PPU Fire and Rescue Service (DPKP).

"The total number of cases of forest and land fires that occurred, and the average time of the blackout reached six to eight hours," he said. Karhutla that occurred in the Petung Village area, Penajam District was extinguished with eight hours, because it was peatland. "The forest and land fires in the last three months have mostly occurred in the Penajam District area, because the majority of the land in the area is peatland that is flammable," he said.

More or less, he said the obstacle when extinguishing forest and land fires was that the water source was running low due to the dry season so that there were no water sources, so the blackout was carried out manually by making barriers around the fire. BPBD North Penajam Paser Regency prepared and alerted personnel and equipment, he continued, slowly there was sufficient and the number of personnel was also sufficient to extinguish forest and land fires.

The public and companies are reminded not to open land by burning, and to ask residents not to throw cigarette butts on flammable land, because during the dry season it can trigger fires.