BNPB Data: 11,202 Hectares of Land Burned in Kalimantan

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has reported that the area affected by forest and land fires (karhutla) across three provinces in Kalimantan has reached 11,202 hectares.

Acting Head of the Data, Information, and Communication Center at BNPB, Berton SP Panjaitan, stated that efforts to combat the karhutla are still ongoing in Central Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, and West Kalimantan.

"In these three provinces, we have found that the total area burned is 11,202 hectares, and efforts are continuously underway," Berton said during a press conference at the BNPB Studio on Thursday (22/10/2026).

According to BNPB data, the area burned in Central Kalimantan reaches 7,938 hectares.

Meanwhile, South Kalimantan has recorded 1,974 hectares of burned land, and West Kalimantan approximately 1,290 hectares.

BNPB continues to respond through ground and air task forces.

These efforts include firefighting, patrols, water bombing operations, and weather modification operations (OMC).

Berton stated that BNPB has deployed personnel to strengthen the management of karhutla across these three provinces.

According to his data, the number of ground task force personnel on alert reaches 38,772.

In detail, there are 16,387 personnel in Central Kalimantan, 7,927 personnel in South Kalimantan, and 14,458 personnel in West Kalimantan.

In addition to ground personnel, BNPB has prepared 34 units of support equipment for aerial operations to tackle karhutla in Kalimantan.

Berton explained that the deployment of these resources can be adapted to on-ground needs.

Thus, equipment stationed in one province can be redirected to assist in another province as required.

"So, indeed, the base is in the province, but the tasks can be in other parts of Kalimantan or in different provinces considering the available needs," he stated.

BNPB is also enhancing its karhutla response through weather modification operations involving the seeding of sodium chloride (NaCl) or salt and dry ice.

On October 21, 2026, weather modification operations in Central Kalimantan and South Kalimantan were conducted through five sorties of dry ice seeding and five sorties of NaCl.

Berton reported that observations indicated a decrease in PM2.5 concentration during the dry ice seeding period. The recorded PM2.5 concentration was 668.7 at 07:00 WIB, dropping to 540.3 by 09:00 WIB.

Additionally, visibility at Iskandar Air Force Base in Pangkalan Bun improved to 2,500 meters at 14:00 WIB, from 200 meters previously.

BNPB also reported rainfall in Lamandau and Kotawaringin Barat based on weather radar observations and field reports.

Despite this, efforts to manage karhutla continue in order to control the fires and reduce the impact of smoke on the community.