Indonesia: 1,500 soldiers deployed to fight forest fires in South Kalimantan

Antara 11 Sep 15;

Banjarmasin, S Kalimantan (Antara) - Some 1,500 soldiers have been deployed to fight land and forest fires in South Kalimantan and prevent them from spreading, a spokesman said.

Under an agreement reached at during a coordination meeting of stakeholders, the Antasari District Military Command 101 Station has been appointed as the main command post to fight forest and land fires in the region, the Commander of the Antasari District Military Command 101, Col. M Abduh Ras, said on Thursday.

"We will coordinate with other forest fire mitigation teams, such as the National Disaster Mitigation Board (BNPB), the Natkional SAR Body (Basarnas), the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) and local fire departments," he said.

The soldiers in the 13 districts and municipalities in South Kalimantan will cooperate with other forest and land fire mitigation teams to extinguish hotspots as part of efforts to prevent the fires from spreading, he said.

"The soldiers we have deployed come from all forces, the Army, the Air Force and the Navy, as well as the police," he said.

Ras said the soldiers would make every effort in the field to put out the fires, using both traditional and modern methods.

Hotspots have now been found in almost all districts of South Kalimantan, including Banjar, Tanah Laut, Tabalong, and Barito Kuala, he said.(*)

Officer of Indonesian ministry dies when extinguishing forest fire in Sukabumi
Antara 13 Sep 15;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - An officer of Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) died when he was trying to extinguish land and forest fires in Ciemas sub-district, Sukabumi District, West Java, an official said.

"Dulman Efendi, chief of forest resort of Cikepuh wildlife preservation Suaka Margasatwa died while extinguishing the forest fire," head of the local Technical Division of Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) Munarto told ANTARA here on Saturday.

Munarto further said that Dulman Efendi passed away when he was leading a team of forest fire fighting after the Friday prayer (September 11).

Until Friday (Sept 11) as much as 37 forest fires incidence occurred in Wildlife Cikepuh covering a total area of 337.4 hectares.

The fire incidence occurred on August 31 to September 11.

Earlier, the Head of Emergency and Logistics division of the Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), Sukabumi District, Usman Susilo said on last Wednesday that the forest fires had also burnt 30 hectares of land in Puncak Bukit Habibie in Kampung Pasir Randu, Pasirbaru Village, Cisolok sub-district, Sukabumi.

1,887 hotspots detected in Sumatra and Kalimantan
Antara 12 Sep 15;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said the number of hotspots detected in Sumatra and Kalimantan has continued to increase despite the governments efforts to intensify its emergency operations.

"Although we have launched emergency operations, hotspots in Sumatra and Kalimantan have continued to increase, reaching 1,887 points," Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in a press statement in Jakarta on Saturday.

Some 1,887 hotspots were detected by the Terra and Aqua Satellite on Friday at 5 a.m. Western Indonesia Standard Time (WIB). It included of 575 hotspots in Sumatra and 1,312 in Kalimantan.

In Sumatra, the hotspots were mostly detected in South Sumatra Province with 449 points, Jambi Province with 93 points, Bangka Belitung Province with 49 and Riau Province with 11 such spots.

In Kalimantan, a total of 1,312 hotspots were detected, with 508 being located in West Kalimantan, 127 in South Kalimantan, 579 in Central Kalimantan, 95 in East Kalimantan and four in North Kalimantan.

BNPB Chief Willem Rampangilei said on Friday that operational plans to put out forest and bush fires should be carried out simultaneously.

"Human resources should be deployed to prevent new fires, intensify popularization efforts and enforce the law," he said during a meeting on fire extinguishing efforts held in Palembang, South Sumatra.

He further said that BNPB will borrow a MI-171 helicopter from Papua to put out fires in Palembang.

Therefore, BNPB will also coordinate with the Ministry of Transportation regarding flight permits for 1,050 military personnel, who are attached with the BNPB to help fire extinguishing efforts.(*)