Joint team battles to extinguish 15-hectare forest and peatland fire in Kampar

Pekanbaru — A combined team from Manggala Agni Daerah Operasi Sumatera IV/Pekanbaru, the military and police, and the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) continues battling to extinguish a forest and peatland fire (karhutla) spanning 15 hectares in Rimbo Panjang Village, Kampar Regency.

Edwin Putra, Technical Coordinator for forest and peatland fire control at the Sumatra Forest and Peatland Fire Management Centre, Sector II, stated that extinguishing efforts at this location have entered their fourth day. The suppression process is hampered by peatland conditions and limited water sources around the fire location.

Over the past four days, the joint team has continuously undertaken suppression efforts from morning to evening. However, by the fourth day, only about one hectare of the total burned area has been successfully extinguished.

Edwin explained that another challenge in the suppression process is fire spreading beneath the peatland surface. This situation is exacerbated by clear weather and winds blowing at approximately 11 km per hour.

“Water sources are also limited. We are currently relying on a canal approximately 70 centimetres deep and 1.5 metres wide,” he said.

According to him, the 15-hectare area is dominated by shrubs, acacia, ferns, and alang-alang grass. Suppression operations are being conducted using one Strada vehicle, one ZS Power pump engine, two mini strike portable pumps, and dozens of suction and discharge hoses.

The suppression strategy is carried out through two routes using the ZS Power engine, supplemented by two additional routes using mini strike pumps to accelerate water supply and fire suppression.

Currently, the fire remains in extended suppression status. The joint team remains on standby at the location to prevent hotspots from reigniting and to ensure that fire beneath the peatland layer is completely extinguished.