UI Students Nearly Trapped by Peat Fires in Ketapang

The fire closed in faster than expected. Smoke thickened around the peat forest in Sungai Besar village, Ketapang, and the route out became blocked by flames.

On Aug. 8, University of Indonesia students Nnover Purba, a geography student, and Intisari, who studies economics, were assisting The Power of Mama, a women-led volunteer group that monitors land conditions in Ketapang. They had planned to join a forest and land fire patrol, but the patrol ended early after fires appeared in several locations near their post.

When they tried to leave, roads that had been passable became obscured by smoke and cut off by fire. They attempted the journey four or five times, but each attempt ended with a return to the post. During the delay, they spoke for about 30 minutes with firefighters and the Village Forest Management Institution, whose teams had already spent several days battling the blaze.

Water supplies in nearby ditches, normally used for firefighting, were also beginning to run low. The students eventually broke through the smoke and left the forest shortly before evening.

For Nnover, the experience changed the way he understood the fires. “We learn from data and maps that forest and land fires are a major problem, but only when I was trapped in the smoke did I realize that this is not just about numbers. It is about people who have to live with it every year,” he told Republika.co.id.

The incident came after about 10 days of rotating field assignments with The Power of Mama. Fourteen UI students joined the program, with four sent each day to two villages: two to Pematang Gadung and two to Sungai Besar.

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We learn from data and maps that forest and land fires are a major problem, but only when I was trapped in the smoke did I realize that this is not just about numbers. It is about people who have to live with it every year.