Tempirai Residents' Last Stand Against Forest Fires

In Tempirai village, Musi Banyuasin Regency, South Sumatra, Indonesia, residents are fighting forest fires with their own hands as the blaze intensifies. The reality is that local communities are serving as the 'last line of defense,' with no time to wait for official fire brigades. Sumanti (30) sped through her rubber plantation on her electric bicycle, heading back to her hamlet. She was returning to check on her family, as she couldn't reach them by phone. Her face was pale, and her voice trembled. "The fire is approaching our plantation," she told a resident she met on the way. Half an hour later, two men and two women, carrying two 35-liter jerrycans of water each and one 35-liter fertilizer sprayer on their motorcycles, headed towards Sumanti's family plantation. Sumanti followed on her electric bicycle with one 35-liter jerrycan of water. On Saturday (September 5th), under the scorching sun and accompanied by the wind, Sumanti and four of her family members, who also reside in Tempirai village, worked to extinguish fires in the bushes and bamboo forest bordering their rubber plantation and agroforestry (jongot). They appeared tireless, repeatedly fetching water from 'paye' – small river cuts or swampy areas around the plantation – some of which were already drying up. Their two hours of effort only managed to slow the fire's progress; embers were still scattered. In the afternoon, three men arrived with a 15 HP water pump and dozens of meters of hose, joining the firefighting efforts. Three hours later, the fire was extinguished. Sumanti smiled. "The fire originated from the direction of the transmigrant land behind our plantation," Sumanti said. The water pump belonged to a resident. To operate it, several residents who cultivate land in Talang Turunan Gajah pooled money to buy fuel. "There is no forest fire task force here. Residents help each other when there are fires in the plantation," said Sadikin (46), the owner of the water pump. In this region, the arrival of fire brigades is often delayed, and community 'gotong royong' (mutual cooperation) has become the only, and last, line of defense against forest fires. Source: Mongabay Indonesia