West Kalimantan Forest Fire Operations Hindered by Low Visibility and Water Scarcity

The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) has revealed several obstacles in the operations to handle forest and land fires (karhutla) in West Kalimantan.

“Operations are still facing constraints such as low visibility, the difficulty of extinguishing peatland fires, and limited water sources,” stated the Acting Head of the BNPB Data, Information, and Disaster Communication Centre, Berton SP Panjaitan, during a press conference on Tuesday (1/9).

He stated that these challenges are being encountered during integrated fire-fighting operations conducted via both land and air routes.

Despite these difficulties, Berton explained that ground task forces have successfully carried out firefighting efforts in 10 regencies across West Kalimantan. These include Kubu Raya, Bengkayang, Mempawah, Kayong Utara, Sintang, Sekadau, Kapuas Hulu, Landak, Ketapang, Sambas, and Singkawang City.

“The total area successfully extinguished is an extraordinary 262 hectares,” he continued.

Meanwhile, air task forces are conducting patrols to monitor new hotspots as well as those that have not yet been extinguished. The findings from these patrols are then communicated to coordinate firefighting efforts, such as water bombing operations.

“Water bombing was conducted by five helicopter units, successfully dropping a total of 724,000 litres of water. The area extinguished via this method is approximately 11 hectares,” said Berton.

Weather Modification Operations (OMC) were also reported to have been carried out once, involving the dispersal of 1,600 kg of NaCl.