Distant Water Sources Hamper Forest and Land Fire Suppression in East Kotawaringin, Central Kalimantan

Firefighters and volunteers continue to battle forest and land fires in East Kotawaringin and West Kotawaringin, Central Kalimantan. Distant water sources are one of the main obstacles to suppression efforts.

In East Kotawaringin, firefighting operations are taking place at dozens of locations simultaneously. On Wednesday (19/8/2026), joint personnel handled at least 22 fire points across Mentawa Baru Ketapang and Baamang sub-districts. Several locations still showed lingering smoke after suppression efforts.

“Conditions on the ground are not easy. Personnel face obstacles including distant water sources, limited hoses, and breakdowns of firefighting equipment. In some locations, the fires are in areas that are difficult to reach, requiring extra time and effort for damping down,” said Multazam, Head of the East Kotawaringin Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), as quoted by detikKalimantan on Thursday (20/8/2026).

“One area of particular concern is around Jalan Moh Hatta Lingkar Selatan, Mentawa Baru Ketapang. In addition, operations are also being carried out at several points on Jalan Panglima Hamdan, Jalan MT Haryono Barat, Jalan HM Arsyad, and up to the Jalan Jenderal Sudirman area,” he added.

A volunteer from Mentawa Baru Ketapang sub-district, Rizky Mubarrak, had to receive medical treatment in the emergency department of dr Murjani Sampit Regional Hospital after experiencing shortness of breath and exhaustion while helping to extinguish forest and land fires. Mentawa Baru Ketapang sub-district head Irpansyah said Rizky’s condition had stabilised after receiving medical assistance.

“This incident illustrates how heavy the struggle is for residents and volunteers who are helping with firefighting amid smoke and heat,” said Irpansyah.

Meanwhile, data from the East Kotawaringin BPBD reported up to 19 August shows the scale of the problem is growing. The number of accumulated hotspots throughout the year has reached 3,840 points, while the area of land burned up to 18 August was recorded at approximately 1,317.15 hectares.