FAKFAK – Forest and land fires that broke out in Kampung Tunas Gain, East Fakfak District, Fakfak Regency, West Papua, drew a direct response from the Patriot Expedition Team (TEP) of Hasanuddin University (Unhas). The team, which is carrying out community service in the area, worked with residents in an effort to control the flames on Tuesday (15 September).
The Unhas Patriot Expedition Team joined forces with residents of Kampung Tunas Gain and surrounding villages to contain the fire and keep it from spreading to plantation areas and settlements. Using the equipment available, the team and residents worked together to control a number of hotspots amid fairly challenging field conditions.
In addition to helping put out the fire directly, the Unhas Patriot Expedition Team used drone technology to monitor conditions from the air. Sweeps were carried out to identify hotspots hidden behind vegetation or located in places that are difficult to reach from the ground.
The aerial mapping provided information on the distribution of hotspots and the direction in which the flames were moving based on field conditions. The information was then passed on to residents as a guide for determining which locations needed to be handled first.
“The presence of the Unhas TEP in East Fakfak is a tangible form of community service. Besides helping residents put out the fire, we are prioritizing aerial mapping by drone because the wind direction and hotspots covered by vegetation are very difficult to monitor from the ground. We pass the data from the drone directly to residents so the fire can be handled more quickly,” said Michel O’Brien, general field coordinator of the Unhas Patriot Expedition.
The collaboration between community manpower and technological support was part of the Unhas Patriot Expedition Team’s efforts to help deal with the forest and land fires in the area. Aerial monitoring was also conducted to help identify potential hotspots that remained hidden so they could be acted on immediately.
As of Wednesday (16 September), local residents were still monitoring the area and remaining on standby around the site to anticipate hotspots reappearing, especially amid hot weather and gusts of wind that could affect the spread of the fire. (*/mo)
Editor: Ishaq Rahman
This article is an English translation of the original Indonesian report.