Two Forest and Land Fires Occur in a Single Day in Penajam Paser Utara
Forest and land fires (karhutla) in Penajam Paser Utara Regency, East Kalimantan, continue to occur. On Wednesday (19/8), two incidents were reported in different locations: Penajam District and Babulu District. The situation forced the joint karhutla handling team to work extra hard until early Thursday morning. The total area burned in the two incidents reached more than 11 hectares.
Nurlaila, Head of the Penajam Paser Utara Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), told Media Indonesia on Thursday (20/8) that the first report was received from Sepan Urban Village, Penajam District, with a burned area of 10.65 hectares. The fire occurred on land owned by a resident named Ayong Antony, formerly belonging to PT Greaty Sukses Abadi.
She explained that the fire began at around 13:15 WITA and was reported to the BPBD operations control centre at 13:23 WITA. The fire burned approximately 10.65 hectares of mineral land covered in shrubs, trees and large piles of wood. A joint team was deployed, comprising BPBD, the Fire and Rescue Service (DPKP) Sotek Post, KPHP Bongan, KPHP Telake, the Agriculture Office’s land and forest fire brigade, PT Balikpapan Wana Lestari, Babinsa, Bhabinkamtibmas, local neighbourhood officials and university students undertaking community service.
Due to the extent of the burned area, firefighting efforts using tanker trucks and portable pumps continued until initial cooling was completed at 00:00 WITA. The main flames were visually extinguished. Officers returned the following morning to check remaining smoke and embers at the site.
Nurlaila said police are still investigating the cause of the Sepan fire. However, given the dry conditions, even the smallest spark could trigger a fire because the shrubs and wood piles were dry.
The second karhutla incident occurred in RT 10, Babulu Darat Village, Babulu District. The joint team received the report at around 22:06 WITA. Night-duty officers from the DPKP post immediately went to the location using a fire engine and began extinguishing the fire, which burned approximately one hectare.
According to information gathered, the fire was triggered by waste burning activity since the afternoon, which then spread to the surrounding area. Thanks to the officers’ quick response, the fire was fully extinguished at 00:23 WITA with no casualties.
Unlike the Sepan fire, the person who burned waste and triggered the Babulu Darat fire has been detained by police for further legal proceedings. Nurlaila urged all members of the public not to clear land or dispose of waste by burning, as the dry weather has high potential to trigger further karhutla disasters. She warned that burning waste or clearing land by fire can lead to legal sanctions if it results in a fire disaster.