Manggala Agni continues forest and land fire suppression at three South Sumatra locations

Manggala Agni, together with a joint task force, is continuing to extinguish and cool down forest and land fires at three locations in South Sumatra, with the total burned area reaching 22 hectares. Head of the Sumatra Regional Forest Fire Control Agency at the Ministry of Forestry, Ferdian Krisnanto, stated in Palembang on Monday that the three locations are in Ogan Ilir and Ogan Komering Ilir (OKI) regencies. “The joint team is still handling the situation on the ground. At several locations, the fires are not yet fully extinguished and are still producing smoke, so firefighting and further mopping up are being carried out to prevent them from spreading again,” he said. One of the fire locations is in Sungai Rambutan Village, North Indralaya District, Ogan Ilir Regency, with approximately eight hectares of land burned. Of that area, around four hectares have been successfully extinguished. However, there are still hotspots located far from the reach of personnel, so further firefighting is ongoing. The burned land consists of belidang and shrubs on swampy soil within an Other Use Area. “At this location, there are still hotspots out of reach, and firefighting will continue,” he added. Meanwhile, a fire in Palau Gemantung Village, Tanjung Lubuk District, OKI Regency, has burned around 10 hectares of community peatland. The burned vegetation includes karimunting, belidang, gelam, and shrubs. The Manggala Agni team, together with the local disaster management agency, is fighting the fire using three mini striker machines by cutting off the fire’s spread from the right side of the burned area. Another fire in Cinta Jaya Village, Pedamaran District, OKI Regency, has burned about four hectares of community peatland covered with shrubs, belidang, gelam, and oil palm. Joint personnel from Manggala Agni, the OKI disaster management agency, the military, and the police have extinguished around two hectares, but white smoke is still visible as the fire continues to burn in the surface and subsurface peat layers, making firefighting more difficult due to shrinking water sources in the canals. Ferdian noted that peatland fires are particularly challenging because embers can persist underground. Meanwhile, a fire in Teluk Kecapi Village, Ogan Ilir Regency, and Sungai Menang Village, OKI Regency, near a toll road, has been successfully extinguished, with a total of six hectares of land burned now fully put out. Manggala Agni and the joint task force are still monitoring and conducting mopping-up operations at locations that are not yet fully extinguished to ensure no remaining embers could reignite the fires.