Industrial timber plantation company in Jambi deploys full team to extinguish forest and land fires
One of APP Group’s industrial timber plantation companies in Jambi, PT Wira Karya Sakti (WKS), deployed a full team comprising ground firefighters and water-bombing helicopter support to assist in handling forest and land fires in Sekumbung Village, Taman Rajo District, Muaro Jambi Regency, Jambi.
In handling the incident, WKS deployed two Rapid Reaction Teams (TRC) and the full Fire Fighting Brigade (RPK) of District 7 to extinguish and control the fire at the location, said Head of Fire Operation Management (FOM) of PT WKS, Destian Nori, in Jambi on Thursday.
In addition to ground team strength, PT WKS also provided support through water-bombing helicopters to accelerate the extinguishing process. The PT WKS team immediately moved to handle the location by optimising ground personnel strength and air support.
The combination of ground and air firefighting was carried out to accelerate fire control and prevent the fire from spreading to surrounding areas. Thanks to the rapid response of the team in the field, the fire was successfully extinguished within approximately 2.5 hours.
Destian Nori said that response speed is an important factor in handling forest and land fires. As soon as fire information was received, the team immediately moved by deploying two Rapid Reaction Teams and the District 7 RPK team. The company also provided support through water-bombing helicopters to accelerate the extinguishing process.
According to Destian, PT WKS continues to strengthen the preparedness of personnel and firefighting facilities, particularly in facing the potential for forest and land fires during the dry season.
“We continue to strengthen the preparedness of personnel and firefighting facilities. Our main target is to ensure that every potential fire can be handled as quickly as possible before it develops and spreads,” he said.
He explained that the deployment of two TRCs and the full District 7 RPK team is part of PT WKS’s rapid response system in handling potential fires in the field.
Water-bombing support is also part of efforts to strengthen firefighting when field conditions and situations require air support.
PT WKS considers that handling forest and land fires requires synergy from all parties, where rapid response in the field needs to be supported by communication and coordination between the company, government, authorities, and the community.
The company also invites the public to play an active role in preventing forest and land fires by not clearing land by burning and immediately reporting if they find smoke or indications of fire hotspots.
“The extinguishing within approximately 2.5 hours is part of our rapid response efforts in the field. However, the most important thing is how fires can be prevented from the outset. Therefore, we invite all parties to jointly protect the environment and immediately report if they find indications of fire,” added Destian.
PT WKS is committed to continuing to strengthen preparedness and response capabilities for forest and land fires through increasing personnel capacity, patrols and early detection, readiness of firefighting facilities, and coordination with various stakeholders.