Since February 13, 2021, there have been land fires in Agam district, West Sumatra. Until Tuesday (23/02/2021), the fires had spread to approximately 25 hectares.

The fire that occurred in Aie Maruok village, Tanjung Mutiara, Ampek Nagari sub-district, Agam district, burned down oil palm land belonging to residents. The contours of the land were peat, overwhelming the officers to extinguish the fire. After being sprayed with water, the next day the fire started again.

As a result, the fires have continued to spread since the first fire 10 days ago. Now the fire has occurred at four points in the Ampek Nagari sub-district.

Firefighters admitted that they were overwhelmed to extinguish the fire, because of the difficulty of water sources at the fire site. In addition, fire engines cannot pass the road to the location of the fire, so the officers only use water in the trenches of the oil palm plantations.

Due to the current prolonged hot weather conditions, it is difficult to find water sources. Officers were forced to use wooden sticks to extinguish the hotspots that were still burning.

This fire is thought to be the result of the activities of the land owner who burned the remains of the encroachment which became the source of the fire. The fire then quickly spread, the impact of the scorching heat that occurred at this time. As of Tuesday, the officers were still trying to extinguish the fire even with minimal equipment.

Statemen : M. Lufti / Head Office Regional Disaster Management Agency
"From February 13th this fire incident, the total has burned approximately 25 hectares of community agriculture. First, our difficulty is because the weather is currently very hot, making it easier for the fire to spread rapidly, then our first difficulty is because this is peatland, so when we leave the fire it reappears, the two roads to this location are not good, so we can't take it water carrier".