Firefighters In East Kalimantan; Running Out of Food, Getting Lost, Till Passing Out In The Forest

TRIBUNBATAM.id -  There are sad stories from forest and land firefighters (Karhutla) in East Kalimantan.

The firefighters consisted of East Kalimantan Forestry Service Department, BPBD East Kalimantan, and the added volunteers who were members of the Zero Fire Forest.

When struggling to extinguish, they often run out of food stocks, get lost in the middle of the forest, till' they are exhausted from being exposed to too much smoke. 

Head of the Forest Damage Control Section of the East Kalimantan Forest Service, Shahar Al Haqq, said that firefighters sometimes walked tens of kilometers to the point of fire. 

Shahar, who is also the coordinator of the Zero Fire Forest team, said that the members of the firefighting team then built some posts around the fires. 

Running out of food

Supplies of water, rice and snacks become provisions every time they go down to the location. After the food supplies run out, they must return to the nearest post or go to the residential area. 

"If we have already entered the forest, the distance is for example 100 kilometers, it is impossible for our energy to be spent just for carrying some foods. We are forced to stock up just a little. And after it runs out, we are forced to return," Shahar said, Saturday (9/21/2019). 

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Communication equipment using the radio communication (HT) was only a maximum distance of 5 kilometers. 

If the distance exceeds the maximum limit, the HT will not function. Delivery of food stocks becomes constrained. 

For this reason, it is usually agreed to use time instructions if the communication device is not functioning. 

Get lost in the woods

Not only ran out of food, Shahar said, another problem that experienced by the team was getting lost in the forest. 

Shahar said there were a team members who wanted to leave the forest after the blackout. But it didn't go to the post. It's been walking for hours, but it's still returning to its same place. 

Initially, the two teams both moved from the same hotspot to the command post, because the fire was extinguished. The distance between teams is only 100-300 meters.

However, at one time, when called to approach, the other team just drifted away until their voice response disappeared. 

According to Shahar, almost 4 hours, the team that disappeared did not return. 

The incident occurred in the Labanan area, Berau Regency. 

Fainted due to smoke

Then another problem, many teams were exhausted, even fainted caused by the smoke.

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Some team members had to be evacuated out of the forest, unable to walk due to fatigue. 

According to Shahar, members who were exhausted and fainted had to be carried by other colleagues until they emerged from the haze. 

For this reason, according to Shahar, the team members that participating in the forest fire suppression must be selected. 

"The conditions must be fit and given special training. If sick, it's better not to participate, instead we are bothered in the forest," said Shahar. (*)

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