Mount Bantan Belitung Forest Fire Successfully Extinguished

Police personnel from the Bentu Mendanau KPHL while trying to extinguish the fire in the forest of Mount Bantan Belitung. BETWEEN KAsmono-Apriliansyah

BELITUNG - Forest Police (Polhut) of the Protected Forest Management Unit (KPHL) Bornut Mendanau, Belitung Regency, Bangka Belitung Islands, together with residents managed to extinguish forest fires on Mount Bantan.

KPHL Public Relations Officer Kuntu Mendanau Agustiar said his party together with residents managed to extinguish the fire in the forest of Mount Bantan Belitung for several hours using fire extinguishers.

"We managed to extinguish the fire that had burned one hectare of forest so that it did not spread to other forest areas," he said, quoted by ANTARA, Tuesday, October 10.

According to him, the condition of the forest that caught fire on Mount Bantan was 800 meters above sea level.

The fire, said Agustiar, caused a puff of white smoke that could be seen from the foot of the mountain.

"We received reports from residents. Furthermore, the police led by the commander of Yogi together with residents extinguished forest fires on Mount Bantan," he said.

Agustiar explained that the police station was assisted by local residents to extinguish the fire so as not to spread and burn other trees, even with makeshift equipment.

The KPHL Belantu Mendanau Police Team together with local residents climbed the mountain to approach the hotspots to extinguish the fire.

"Finally, we managed to extinguish the fire for about an hour," he said.

Agustiar said that until now the exact cause of forest fires on Mount Bantan is not yet known.

Therefore, he appealed to residents not to burn land and forests in the midst of the current dry conditions.

"The burning of forest areas is threatened with Law Number 41 of 1999 concerning Forestry with the threat of fines to imprisonment," he said.