268 Hotspots Surround Bangka Belitung, BPBD on Alert for Forest and Land Fires
Hundreds of hotspots indicating forest and land fires (karhutla) continue to emerge across six regencies in the Bangka Belitung Islands Province. Based on the latest data on Sunday (20/8), satellites detected 268 hotspots spread across the region.
Hardiansyah, a junior disaster analyst at the Bangka Belitung Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), said the data referred to information from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) in Pangkalpinang. According to him, the surge in hotspots was triggered by extreme weather conditions.
“The heat is extraordinary, not to mention the strong winds. That is why every day there are always hotspots suspected of being forest and land fires,” Hardiansyah said.
Hardiansyah stressed that almost all areas in Bangka Belitung are now surrounded by hotspots, except Pangkalpinang City. The accuracy level of the 268 hotspots is at 8 and 9, which means there is a strong indication that forest and land fires have occurred at those locations.
“Regardless of whether or not fires have occurred, we continue to urge the BPBD in the six regencies to check the locations. If forest and land fires are confirmed, immediately take action to extinguish them so the fire does not spread,” he asserted.
He added that forest and land fire incidents now occur almost every day, with high intensity observed in East Belitung. As a note, on Saturday there were three forest and land fire incidents, namely two in East Belitung and one in West Bangka, with the total burned area reaching more than 2 hectares.
The BPBD urged the public to increase vigilance amid the hot weather and strong winds. Residents were asked not to carry out activities that could trigger fires, such as burning land, burning rubbish carelessly, or discarding lit cigarette butts.
Bangka Belitung Police Chief Inspector General Viktor T. Sihombing said the readiness alert was held because forest and land fire incidents have increased during the current dry season.