Jakarta, MINA – The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) recorded several disaster events within a 24-hour period from Tuesday at 07:00 AM to Wednesday at 07:00 AM. A total of eight new disaster incidents were reported, all of which were forest and land fires.
The first reported fire occurred in Pasuruan Regency, East Java Province. Around 35 hectares of forest and land in the Puthuk Elang area, located within Mount Arjuno, were burned.
Abdul Muhari, Head of the BNPB’s Data, Information, and Disaster Communication Center, stated in Jakarta on Thursday that no casualties were reported in the incident. The fire was successfully extinguished on Tuesday by the Pasuruan Regency Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) in coordination with related agencies.
The next fire was reported in a palm oil plantation owned by residents in Padang Lawas Utara Regency, North Sumatra Province.
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“A total of 4 hectares of land across two districts were burned 3 hectares in Padang Bolak District and 1 hectare in Portibi District,” he said.
On Tuesday, the fire was extinguished by a joint team consisting of the Padang Lawas Utara BPBD, Public Order Agency, Fire Department, Indonesian Military and Police, and local residents.
In the same province, a forest and land fire also destroyed 10 hectares of land in Ponco Warno Village, Salapian District, Langkat Regency, on Tuesday at around 10:00 AM.
The local BPBD, along with TNI-POLRI and other related agencies, immediately carried out firefighting efforts at the location. The fire was successfully extinguished on the same day. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
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Other affected areas in North Sumatra included Simalungun Regency and Labuhanbatu Regency. In Simalungun, 5 hectares of land were burned. The Simalungun BPBD conducted assessments and deployed two fire trucks to extinguish the fire, which was put out successfully. In Labuhanbatu, 53 hectares of land in Pasar Tiga Village, Panai Tengah District, burned on Monday afternoon. The fire was also extinguished on the same day.
In West Sumatra Province, fire continued to burn forests in Nagari Guguak Sarai, IX Koto Sungai Lasi District, Solok Regency, since Friday. Approximately 41 hectares of land have been affected. Joint teams are still working to extinguish the fire.
In addition to dominating Sumatra, forest and land fires have also occurred on Kalimantan Island. In Ketapang Regency, 9 hectares of land burned on Tuesday. The fire was suspected to have been deliberately set by residents and spread due to hot and dry weather in the area.
Firefighting efforts were immediately carried out by the Ketapang BPBD and other relevant authorities, but had to be temporarily halted due to limited water sources at the scene. The effort continued today with plans to extinguish an additional 8 hectares of land.
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During this dry season, BNPB urged the public to remain alert to hot weather, which increases the potential for dry hydrometeorological disasters such as forest fires and drought.
Although Indonesia has entered the dry season, some regions may still experience moderate to heavy rainfall, especially in northern Sumatra, western Kalimantan, central Sulawesi, Maluku, and Papua. Residents in these areas are advised to remain cautious of wet hydrometeorological disasters such as flooding, flash floods, and strong winds. [Nia]
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
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