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The Volunteer Firefighters of Tumbang Nusa

It was in March that we first contacted Pak Silpanus, the head of the volunteer firefighters in the village of Tumbang Nusa, to make arrangements to interview him on site. Unfortunately, flooding in the area made it difficult to access the village. So, in the meantime, we pursued other stories until we contacted him again in August. He agreed to meet us at 9 AM at their guardpost in Tumbang Nusa. When we got there, they were about to do maintenance on the borewells that were spread in the peatland. We didn’t expect to be walking in peat, and weren’t dressed accordingly, but we took that opportunity to see for ourselves their efforts to prevent fires in the area.

Checking The Borewells

The peatland that covers 71% of Tumbang Nusa1, has been heavily degraded, mainly due to the Mega Rice Project in 1995, which attempted to convert 1.5 million hectares into agricultural land2. As a result, the peat has become more vulnerable to fire and its capacity to retain water is severely reduced, which is one of the factors that contributes to flooding every rainy season. Since then, fires occur almost every dry season, especially during El Niño years. In response to the catastrophic 2015 fire and haze, the Ministry of the Environment and Forestry issued a decree for the creation of a volunteer firefighter group called “Masyarakat Peduli Api” (MPA) in each of the 300 villages in Indonesia that are at risk of fire3. Its purpose is to empower the village communities to be self-reliant in preventing and putting out fires in their respective areas. In 2021, Pak Silpanus became the head of the MPA of Tumbang Nusa. He and the 16 members of the “Perintis” MPA work three months out of the year in the dry season to prevent and extinguish fires in their area. We followed them in the spongy peat as they checked each borewell and made sure the area around them was clear of any obstructions, since they use the water from them to put out the fires. In the third month, they would check if the wells still provide water by pumping them for three hours. Initially, the Peat and Mangrove Restoration Agency (BRGM) made 250 of these wells in 2017, but now the MPA can only use 136 of those. The ones they cannot use are either broken or used by the residents of Tumbang Nusa. The wells span from the main road in lines that are 200 m apart and each line has 3-7 units that are 100 m apart.
Map of the active borewells in Tumbang Nusa marked by the red dots.

Lacking Proper Equipment

We passed by many charred tree trunks from the fire in September-October 2023. For Pak Silpanus, that was the worst fire they had ever encountered since they became MPA. It lasted for 25 days, burning an area of 240 ha. When a fire occurs on peatland it often spreads to the peat underneath and becomes harder to extinguish. The peat can smolder for days, releasing toxic smoke. The source of the fire was 1600 m inland and far from any water sources. The Perintis MPA and firefighters from Manggala Agni, the national fire fighting brigade, and the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) joined forces to put out this fire. When the MPA cannot handle a fire on their own, firefighters from either of the two organizations above, who are better equipped, come to help. Even though they receive funding from the village and the BPBD and BRGM support them by providing fuel and daily wages, albeit not regularly, the Perintis MPA are by all rights ill-equipped to fight fires. Most of their equipment is in need of repair or replacement and they don’t have proper transportation. When there is a fire, they carry the heavy gear, such as a pump and a fire hose, on their own motorbikes to its location. “Our main constraint is money. If we had the funds, we would get proper equipment to support our activities”, says Pak Silpanus. They get by with what they have, sometimes using their own money to pay for the MPA’s expenses. Most of them earn a living by fishing, farming and doing odd jobs. They spare time, when they can, to carry out MPA activities. 

Peat fires that burn underground can last for days, which was the case during the fire in 2023.

Fire Safety On Peatland

After walking on peat for about 500 meters in the late morning heat, we had reached our limit and headed back to the guardpost, where we would wait for them. The team came back an hour later, three people on each motorbike, and we continued the interview. Altogether, they had finished checking 22 borewells that morning and would continue again in the afternoon. Each day they have a target of 30 borewells. When they have checked all of them, they submit a report to BRGM, who then pays them Rp100,000 for each well that is checked. Another aspect of their job is to do socialization to the public on fire safety on peatland. From the guardpost they can see all the people who come in and out of the village. When they see visitors that come to fish in the area, they implore them not to make any fires. In many cases, fires break out because people fishing in the area start fires to cook what they caught on the spot and to repel mosquitos, as well as the stray cigarette still burning. According to Pak Silpanus, nobody intentionally burns peatland. They are just careless and unaware of how easily peat can catch fire, which is why socialization is very important.

The team made sure that the area around each borewell was free of obstructions, like ferns, so they can easily access them when there is a fire.

References

  1. YTS (2021) Mapping of Hydrological Peat Units (KHG) in Jabiren Raya Subdistrict
  2. Sakuntaladewi, N., Mendham, D.S., Subarudi, Rochmayanto, Y., Jalilov, S.M, Djaenudin, D., Effendi R., Astana, S., Wibowo, A. Vulnerability of communities living on peatlands to climate change and peatland degradation: A case study in Tumbang Nusa Village, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Mires and Peat, Volume 30 (2024), Article 05, 18 pp., http://www.mires-and-peat.net/, ISSN 1819-754X International Mire Conservation Group and International Peatland Society, DOI: 10.19189/MaP.2023.OMB.Sc.2118578 
  3. Ministry of the Environment and Forestry (2018) PPID, accessed 25 August 2024, https://ppid.menlhk.go.id/siaran_pers/browse/1425

 

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