TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Regional Agency for Disaster Mitigation (BPBD) of Sukabumi regency, West Java, has said that the region's forests, fields, and residential areas are highly prone to fires throughout the dry season.
"We receive reports of fires almost everyday, but at the moment the majority of the cases are in residential areas and at crop fields," said the Sukabumi's BPBD head of logistics and emergency response, Usman Susilo to Antara News, on Tuesday, September 16, 2014.
According to Usman, his team has already issued a letter to all districts and subdistricts in Sukabumi regency, advising residents to not leave any kind of fire unattended - for example, during cooking.
Farmers are also advised to temporarily avoid slash-and-burn farming practices, because the fires may spread towards residential areas.
Furthermore, most fires on BPBD's record are caused by failing to pay due care and attention to a source of flame. As such, BPBD is advising residents to only keep their use of fire to a minimum.
"We are also advising people to use electricity sparingly, because when it is used beyond its' capacity it may cause some systems to short circuit and cause a fire," he added.
Usman said that the dry weather conditions, coupled with strong winds may cause damaging whirlwinds. The agency has also placed Sukabumi regency under a state of drought emergency since September 8 until December 8, 2014.
"Sukabumi regency has always been prone to disasters - not only during the drought but also during the monsoon season. Throughout the monsoon season we would receive daily reports of landslides, floods, and whirlwinds. As such, we want residents to be vigilant, because these disasters could be quite unpredictable," said Usman.
ANTARA | ADITYA A ROHMAN | DESY SAPUTRA
