KUTAI KARTANEGARA, EAST KALIMANTAN — Dompet Dhuafa East Kalimantan (DD Kaltim) together with the Dompet Dhuafa Disaster Management Center (DMC) held a Forest and Land Fire Disaster Management Training for East Kalimantan volunteers. This training will take two days on Saturday—Sunday (2—3/9/2023) at Wisata Pesona Perjiwa, Kutai Kartanegara Regency, East Kalimantan.
“If something happens (forest and fire) in East Kalimantan, God willing, these volunteers are ready and able to help deal with the disaster. Given the vulnerability (of forest and land fires, in Indonesia: karhutla) in East Kalimantan itself, the presence of these volunteers can minimize (the impact of forest and land fire damage),” explained Danang Pikatan as Head of the East Kalimantan Dompet Dhuafa Branch.
The participants received training on risk management and emergency response management during forest and land fires, first aid for victims of forest and land fires, to large-scale fire suppression practices.
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“If the scale of the disaster is large, it requires all community parties’ involvement. With the presence of resources (volunteers) and large capacity, it is very helpful in handling disaster management, “said Mohd Farid as Head of Subbid Prevention BPBD Kutai Kartanegara.
In addition to training on emergency response, participants were also provided with prevention or mitigation materials in minimizing the occurrence of forest and land fires.
“Hopefully, the knowledge gained can be useful and can be practiced in the field,” explained Achmad Kusasi as Head of Prevention of the Matan Damkar Service, Kutai Kartanegara Regency.
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According to the National Disaster Risk Assessment (INARISK) conducted by the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) in 2021, the potential for forest and land fires in East Kalimantan is high.
The potential area of forest and land fire hazards in East Kalimantan as a whole is 10,128,093 Ha and is in high class. The area of forest and land fire hazards is detailed into three hazard classes, namely the area of danger with low class covering an area of 4,447,228 Ha, medium class covering an area of 4,633,633 Ha, while the area affected by fire hazard in the high class is covering an area of 1,047,232 Ha.
Fire and fire in the low class and medium class exist in East Kutai Regency with an area of 1,194,906 Ha for the low class and 1,439,235 Ha for the medium class. As for the high class, the area with the highest fire hazard area is Kutai Kartanegara Regency with an area of 381,083 Ha.
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With the large potential danger of forest and land fires, training for volunteers on forest and land fire handling is important. Because, this can be a good effort in preventing large-scale forest and land fires.
“I appreciate this activity because there are many benefits obtained by participating in this activity. Thus, our (contribution) to society will be bigger and better,” concluded Widya Ayu, one of the participants.
On a different occasion, DMC Dompet Dhuafa also carried out fire suppression at several points in Kalimantan. The first was in West Kalimantan on Wednesday (23/8/2023), Thursday (24/8/2023), and the latest on Monday (4/9/2023) with Dompet Dhuafa partners. The second is in Central Kalimantan on Tuesday (22/8/2023) to Tuesday (29/8/2023) with Dompet Dhuafa Central Kalimantan. (Dompet Dhuafa/DMC/AFP/JUL)