Obstacles in Central Kalimantan Forest Fire Suppression: Distant Water Sources, Limited Hoses
Efforts to extinguish forest and land fires (karhutla) in East Kotawaringin (Kotim) and West Kotawaringin, Central Kalimantan (Kalteng), are facing a number of obstacles.
Head of the Kotim Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) Multazam said that in Kotim, firefighting is even taking place at dozens of locations simultaneously. Officers are handling at least 22 fire points in the Mentawa Baru Ketapang and Baamang sub-districts. A number of locations still have residual smoke after the extinguishing process.
Multazam said conditions on the ground during the extinguishing process were not easy.
“Conditions on the ground are not easy. Officers face obstacles such as distant water sources, limited hoses, and disruptions to firefighting equipment. In several locations, the fire is in areas that are difficult to reach, requiring extra time and effort to carry out damping down,” he said, as quoted by detikcom on Thursday (20/8).
“One of the areas of concern is around Jalan Moh Hatta Lingkar Selatan, Mentawa Baru Ketapang. In addition, handling is also being carried out at a number of points on Jalan Panglima Hamdan, Jalan MT Haryono Barat, Jalan HM Arsyad and up to the Jalan Jenderal Sudirman area,” he added.
Volunteer collapses
The high intensity of the handling is also beginning to affect the condition of volunteers. A volunteer from Mentawa Baru Ketapang sub-district, Rizky Mubarrak, had to receive medical treatment in the emergency department of dr Murjani Sampit Regional Hospital after experiencing shortness of breath and exhaustion while helping to extinguish the forest and land fires.
Mentawa Baru Ketapang sub-district head Irpansyah said Rizky’s condition was stable after receiving medical assistance.
“The incident illustrates the severity of the struggle of residents and volunteers who are helping with the firefighting amid smoke and heat,” said Irpansyah.
Meanwhile, data from the Kotim BPBD reported up to 19 August shows the scale of the problem is growing. The number of accumulated hotspots throughout the year reached 3,840 points, while the area of land burned up to 18 August was recorded at around 1,317.15 hectares.