Forest and land fires (Karhutla) have continued to affect several\nregions in Indonesia over recent days. The fires in Kalimantan have even\ntriggered smoke haze reaching Sarawak, Malaysia, where authorities\nclosed schools to protect students.<\/p>\n
In West Kalimantan, authorities successfully handled 13 hectares\naffected by forest and land fires using various methods including water\nbombing and weather modification operations. Meanwhile, ground\noperations managed to address 104.8 hectares of land. The Ministry of\nForestry has imposed sanctions on four companies related to these fires:\nPT WEL, PT FI, PT MPK, and PT WSP.<\/p>\n
In East Kalimantan, according to a recapitulation by the provincial\ndisaster mitigation agency (BPBD), 430 forest and land fire incidents\nwere recorded up to last week, with an affected area reaching 1,260.92\nhectares. Most of the burned land belongs to companies. Of the total\naffected area, 1,197.32 hectares were land, 32.84 hectares were forest,\nand 30.71 hectares were plantations. Kutai Kartanegara was the area with\nthe largest burned area, followed by Kutai with 71 incidents, Paser with\n105 incidents, Samarinda with 69 incidents, and Berau with 38 incidents.\nThe Ministry of Forestry has imposed sanctions on PT PSR in East\nKalimantan.<\/p>\n
In Central Kalimantan, there were 25 hotspots. Authorities carried\nout water bombing and weather modification operations in affected areas.\nGround operations successfully handled 55.63 hectares of burned land up\nto Sunday. The Ministry of Forestry has imposed sanctions on PT NES in\nCentral Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
In South Kalimantan, officers successfully handled around 13 hectares\nof burned land through air operations and 40.9 hectares through ground\noperations.<\/p>\n
In Jambi, monitoring identified 14 hotspots. Cumulative water bombing\noperations up to 23 August handled around 226.9 hectares of land. Ground\noperations were still ongoing in several locations with statuses of\nextinguished, being extinguished, and cooling.<\/p>\n
In Batam, Riau Islands Province, a fire occurred on Saturday (22\/8)\non Jalan Trans Barelang, Tembesi Village, Sagulung District. The burned\nland was estimated at 35 hectares. The Riau Islands BPBD and a joint\nteam deployed several fire engines for ground suppression. The fire was\nreported extinguished on Sunday (23\/8). The Meteorology, Climatology and\nGeophysics Agency (BMKG) stated that air quality in Pekanbaru was in the\nhazardous category.<\/p>\n
Similar conditions were reported in Samosir Regency, North Sumatra. A\nhotspot was detected on Saturday (22\/8) at around 18.00 WIB at Bukit\nSitalmak Talmak, Dolok Raja Village, Harian District. The burned area\nwas estimated at five hectares. The BPBD, joint team, village\ngovernment, and community carried out ground suppression. The fire was\nreported extinguished on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a larger-scale forest and land fire occurred in Nabire\nRegency, Central Papua. Fires were reported from 18 July to 23 August\n2026 across seven districts: Teluk Kimi, Nabire Kota, Nabire Barat,\nWanggar, Nabire, Makimi, and Yaur. The fires were triggered by hot\nweather, strong winds, and abundant dry shrubs and weeds. According to\ndata collected by the Nabire BPBD, around 396.13 hectares of land burned\nand four households were affected. As of Sunday, some hotspots could not\nbe extinguished because fire engines could not reach them, according to\nan official release from the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB).\nIn response, the local government identified the need for further\nsupport including water bombing and additional fire engines to handle\nareas difficult to reach by ground operations.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/latest-update-on-forest-and-land-fires-across-indonesia-1787633499", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }