REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, SAMPIT -- At least 300 hectares of forests in East Kotawaringin, Central Kalimantan, were burned down. It was feared to expand to other areas, because the fires were difficult to extinguish.
"It's been five nights that our members tried to extinguish the fires. I planned to help them," said the head of the Forestry and Plantation of Kotim, Sanggul Lumban Gaol, in Sampit, Wednesday (16/9).
The burned forests were monumental forest located on Jalan Sudirman kilometer 32. The fires were allegedly from northern ring road area which were expanding due to the drought and strong wind.
The teams were difficult to extinguish the fires because the location was quite difficult to reach. The teams also had trouble in getting water because the current conditions were very dry.
The teams had been deployed four heavy equipment, particularly excavators, to block the fire, but the effort was also failed because the fires still continued to spread. The wind that was quite strong also made fire to be more difficult to control.
"Of the 607 hectares of monumental forest area, it has been approximately 300 hectares burned. The land around the forest have also been burned. In the forest, there is a secondary forest area of 125 hectares with a lot of trees that must be saved," he explained.
Chief Executive of Regional Disaster Management Agency of Kotim, Rukmana Priyatna, said that he already asked the plantation companies in the region to help extinguishing the fires. All the company's fire-fighting equipment were expected to be maximized.
"The companies have fire-fighting equipment, heavy equipment and more employees. We ask them also to help the fire fighting, so that the fire will not continue to expand," said Rukmana.
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