2007 Volume 16 Issue 3 Pages 303-308
Forest fires in Central Kalimantan are becoming a bigger disaster year after year. Based on experiences suppressing fires in 1997 and 2002, local organizations formulated a concept called the Concept of Fire Fighting Team or the Tim Serbu Api (TSA) Concept. TSA explains how to bring local people together to develop greater awareness and responsibility for the prevention of forest and peat fires and how to develop community environmental education. In 2002, besides totally suppressing fire for an approximately 50-60 ha along the transect, the team also saved. The TSA also made 9 transects (8.75 km long), drilled 21 deep well units, and cut 394 dead trees (“punggu”). Measurements and observations of fire behavior in the field included: (a) vegetation burning followed by peat layer burning, (b) fire depth 0-42.3 cm, (c) fire speed 1.2 m/hour on average, (d) difficulties with fire suppression because need much water, (e) peat fire producing thick smoke, (f) fire spreading through the bottom layer, (g) dead trees (“punggu”) spreading the fire, (h) easy burning vegetation is hampaning (Lithocarpus dasystachyus), (i) burn scarring of peat fire covered by charcoal and ash, and (j) lake-like burn scarring. Without involving local communities and transferring responsibility to them, it is impossible to suppress wild peat fires.
