South Sumatra BPBD air task force extinguishes forest fire in Tihang Village, OKU

The Air Task Force of the South Sumatra Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) has extinguished a forest and land fire (karhutla) in Tihang Village, Lengkiti District, Ogan Komering Ulu (OKU) Regency, to prevent the fire from spreading and causing haze.

Head of BPBD OKU Januar Efendi in Baturaja said on Monday that the hotspot was detected via the SiPongi application in Tihang Village at around 12:24 p.m. local time. He said the burnt land consisted of leftover branches felled by residents, which triggered the fire.

“The area of land burnt is approximately one hectare,” he said. “There was also no water source at the location, so extinguishing was carried out by air,” he explained.

Personnel from the South Sumatra Provincial BPBD Karhutla Task Force extinguished the fire using a water-bombing helicopter to douse the flames from the air.

On that occasion, Januar once again reminded the public not to clear agricultural land by burning, which can trigger forest and land fires, in order to anticipate haze disasters. “We continue to intensify socialisation regarding the prohibition on clearing agricultural and plantation land by burning so that the public is educated to comply with these regulations,” said Head of BPBD OKU Januar Efendi.