Peatland Fires Spread to Jambi's East Coast
In addition to the peatland around Desa Persiapan Air Merah, Sungai Gelam District, Muarojambi Regency, which was still burning as of Tuesday evening (11/8), land fires in Jambi have spread to peatlands in Tanjungjabung Timur Regency.
Based on information gathered by Media Indonesia, due to the dry season, several peatland areas in the regency on the east coast of Jambi have begun to burn and produce smoke over the past two days. Fires have occurred, among others, around Mendahara Ilir District, Rantau Rasau District, and Sadu District.
However, thanks to the hard work of Manggala Agni personnel, members of the Tanjungjabung Timur Police, the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI), and volunteers from Masyarakat Peduli Api, fires in several locations were successfully brought under control and fully extinguished on Monday (10/8). The fires that were successfully extinguished occurred in Rantau Rasau District and Mendahara Ilir District.
Meanwhile, the peatland fire that has been observed since Monday around Sungai Lokan Village, Sadu District, was still burning as of Tuesday afternoon and is being handled by Manggala Agni troops together with the local joint Forest and Land Fire Task Force team.
“Alhamdulillah, several locations that were burning have been successfully extinguished,” said Sandy Prabowo, Manggala Agni personnel from Daops XI Sumatra, to Media Indonesia on Tuesday (11/8).
He said that to strengthen and accelerate the handling of forest and land fires emerging in the regency, which is predominantly peatland, one Manggala Agni team from Daops Bukit Tempurung was deployed on 9 August to carry out extinguishing operations in Rantau Rasau. Extinguishing at that location was completed on Monday (10/8).
After completing the extinguishing operation in Rantau Rasau, the team then moved to assist in extinguishing peatland fires at several locations around Sungai Lokan Village, Sadu District. One location was successfully extinguished just before Tuesday afternoon together with the joint task force team.
However, towards Tuesday evening, Manggala Agni troops were again occupied with the emergence of a hotspot at one location, still in Sungai Lokan Village, Sadu District. As of Tuesday evening, the hotspot was still being extinguished together with joint task force personnel.
Meanwhile, the severe peatland fire in the production forest area near Desa Persiapan Air Merah, Sungai Gelam District, Muarojambi Regency, which has been burning since Wednesday last week, had still not been fully extinguished as of Tuesday evening (11/8).
Two squads of Manggala Agni troops from Daops Kota Jambi together with hundreds of TNI, Polri, and other personnel from the Jambi Forest and Land Fire Task Force are still struggling to handle the fire.
Although conditions are beginning to stabilise, part of the approximately 50 hectares of burned land is still alight and emitting thick smoke. The joint team is still working hard to break the fire front through water bombing from land and air, as well as localising the burned area with firebreaks.