Firebreak Tactics Extinguish Forest and Land Fires in Pinrang, BNPB Urges Emergency Alert
The rocky hills of Taddakong village in Lembang district, Pinrang regency, South Sulawesi, turned into a sea of flames after forest and land fires swept through the area. Heaps of dry leaf litter accumulated amongst the rocks burned at least 5 hectares of land within mere hours.
Facing the rapidly spreading blaze, a swift collaborative effort was mounted by the regional disaster management agency (BPBD), the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI), the National Police and local residents. They applied the fire-breaking method to sever the chain of fire spread and prevent it from creeping into a wider area.
The forest and land fires began on Saturday night (1/8). The geographical conditions of Lembang district posed the main challenge for personnel in the field. The accumulation of dry leaf litter on the rocky hillsides created a natural furnace effect.
This meant that a small spark could quickly ignite a large blaze threatening the protected forest areas surrounding it. On Monday (3/8), the latest report from a local resident, Firdaus, indicated that fire points had also emerged in Kanimpang village, which lies within the same district of Lembang.
The emergence of these new fire points suggests that the potential for forest and land fires in the area is massive and dispersed. Joint personnel were thus compelled to conduct intensive monitoring until the early hours to anticipate flare-ups.
The Head of the Disaster Data, Information and Communication Centre at BNPB, Abdul Muhari, stressed that the incident in Pinrang serves as a serious warning for other regions. Entering the peak of the dry season, Indonesia now faces two threats at once: drought and forest and land fires.
BNPB has instructed all regional governments to raise their emergency preparedness status. This follows the potential extension of this year’s dry season as a result of the El Nino phenomenon and global climate change.
Abdul Muhari reminded the public that the combination of hot weather and strong winds can ignite fires exponentially, making community vigilance the key to preventing a greater disaster.