Land Fire in East Luwu Burns One Hectare, South Sulawesi Faces Deforestation Emergency

A forest and land fire has struck East Luwu Regency, South Sulawesi, amid ongoing deforestation threats that have made the area the region with the largest forest loss in Sulawesi. The fire broke out on land behind the Pertamina Ussu facility in Atue Village, Malili District, on Sunday (19/7) at around 18:00 WITA. At least one hectare of land was scorched before a joint team managed to extinguish the blaze approximately three hours later, at 21:00 WITA. No casualties were reported in the incident, and the cause of the fire remains under investigation. Firefighting efforts involved dozens of personnel from the East Luwu Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), the Fire Department, Manggala Agni, the Transportation Agency, the Indonesian National Armed Forces, the National Police, and local residents. By Monday morning, the situation was reported to be under control. The fire occurred just a week after the East Luwu BPBD mapped fire-prone sub-districts, following an appeal by the agency’s Head of Operations, H. April, for residents to refrain from open burning during the dry weather. He noted that the geographical conditions of East Luwu, dominated by mountains and hills, make the area susceptible to various disasters, both geological and hydrometeorological. East Luwu Regency holds a far more alarming environmental record. According to data from the South Sulawesi Environment and Forestry Office, the province’s total forest area is 1,991,144 hectares, with only 1,434,185 hectares of forest cover remaining, meaning approximately 556,959 hectares have lost their vegetation cover. The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) has noted that the 2026 dry season poses serious threats to several regions in Indonesia, with East Java, South Kalimantan, and South Sulawesi experiencing extreme days without rain. Authorities have urged local governments and all stakeholders to increase preparedness for potential forest and land fires and have called on the public to avoid any activities that could trigger fires and to report any hotspots immediately.