Combating Forest Fires with Biofloc Ponds and Peat Injection Pipes
Banjarbaru (ANTARA) - Over the past month, forest and land fires (karhutla) in South Kalimantan have continued to expand across various regencies and cities.
One of the most affected areas is Banundbaru, the capital of South Kalimantan, where flames have burnt through natural ecosystems consisting of grasslands and trees in uncultivated scrubland.
Three specific areas have become frequent sites for land fires during the dry season in Banjarbaru: the area from Guntung Damar to Tegal Arum, which falls within the Ring 1 zone of Syamsudin Noor International Airport; the Liang Anggang protected forest; and the Pengayuan area in the South Landasan Ulin Village, bordering Tanah Laut Regency.
Crucially, these fires in the city have had a direct impact on airport operations, as thick haze has forced aircraft to cease operations.
Joint task forces from various government agencies, equipped with firefighting equipment, have been deployed. Volunteers have also played a role, albeit with limited resources.
However, the reality remains that fires continue to burn land and expand day by day.
The effectiveness of fire suppression efforts has been widely questioned. One recurring issue is that the burning lands consist of peat with varying depths.
This means that the challenge of firefighting is not merely about chasing visible flames, but ensuring that the embers deep within the peat are completely extinguished while simultaneously rewetting the land.
This situation has prompted the South Kalimantan Regional Police Chief, Inspector General Dr Rosyanto Yudha Hermawan, to seek more effective methods for both extinguishing fires and rewetting burnt peatlands.
He has gathered multi-disciplinary experts from the Forensic Laboratory Division (Bidlabfor) of the South Kalimantan Regional Police to discuss fire suppression strategies.
Furthermore, he has engaged wetland experts from the Faculty of Agriculture at Lambung Mangkurat University (ULM).
The South Kalimantan Regional Police is also collaborating with the Indonesian Palm Oil Association (GAPKI), which possesses extensive experience in managing plantation lands.
From this series of discussions and collaborations, three tactical innovations for forest fire suppression have emerged: the creation of biofloc ponds or portable tarpaulin ponds, the development of a special chemical formula by the South Kalimantan Police Forensic Laboratory to be mixed into water reservoirs, and the creation of an undercooling system pipe, also known as a peat injection pipe.