"A total of 45 hotspots were monitored last Wednesday, from 13:00 to 17:00 WITA (Central Indonesian Standard Time), and we have conveyed the information to the relevant agencies in their respective districts," Ilham Rosihan Fachturoni, forecaster of Balikpapan BMKG's Sultan Aji Muhammad Sulaiman (SAMS) Sepinggan Station, stated here on Thursday.
Information on the existence of hotspots was immediately passed on to the district's Regional Disaster Mitigation Offices (BPBD) to enable further action to be taken to deal with the hotspots.
On the previous day, 20 hotspots were detected in East Kalimantan. The local BPBDs were informed, and actions were taken to put out the hotspots.
The 45 hotspots detected on Thursday were fresh hotspots and located at different coordinates from the hotspots on Wednesday.
Of the 45 hotspots, 20 were detected in East Kutai District, 15 in Berau District, seven in Kutai Kartanegara District, two in West Kutai District, and one in Paser District.
In East Kutai, the 20 hotspots were found in eight sub-districts, specifically four hotspots in Muara Wahau, three hotspots each in Bengalon and Kaubun, two each in Rantau Pulung and Long Mesangat, one each in Busang and Muara Ancalong, as well as spots in Telen.
One hotspot detected in Paser District was in Pasir Belengkong Sub-district, with a medium level of confidence on the possibility of forest fire.
The seven hotspots in Kutai Kartanegara District were spread across four sub-districts, comprising three in Samboja, two in Kembang Janggut, and one each in Muara Kaman and Loa Kulu.
In Berau District, 15 hotspots were detected across five sub-districts, with six in Segah, four in Gunung Tabur, three in Tabalar, and one each in Biatan and Talisayan.
Two hotspots in West Kutai District were found in the two sub-districts of Jempang and Nyuatan.
"All the hotspots detected today have a medium level of confidence," Ilham remarked.
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Translator: M Ghofar, Fardah
Editor: Sri Haryati
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