KETAPANG, thekabarnews.com – Police in Ketapang, West Kalimantan, tested a specialized firefighting liquid against ordinary water on burning peatland. Authorities sought a more effective way to extinguish underground embers and prevent fires from reigniting.

Ketapang Police conducted the X-Fire field trial in Muara Pawan district at about 4 p.m. on Saturday, September 12.

Ketapang Police Chief AKBP Putra Pratama led the operation with officers from the district police and Muara Pawan Police.

Peat fires present a particular challenge because flames can move below the surface and continue smoldering after firefighters extinguish the visible fire.

Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni recently warned that peat can reignite when wind reaches buried embers. This can happen even when the surface no longer shows flames or smoke.

“We want to directly compare which method is more effective during firefighting and cooling so that we can respond to karhutla [forest and land fires] more quickly and accurately, particularly on peatland,” AKBP Putra said.

Officers divided the trial into two plots covering approximately 250 square meters each. They applied 400 liters of ordinary water to one plot and an X-Fire mixture to the other.

For the experimental mixture, officers combined 400 liters of water with 80 liters of X-Fire. This produced a water-to-concentrate ratio of 5:1.

They manually stirred the solution for about 10 minutes before spraying it through hoses and nozzles powered by a portable Robin pump.

Ketapang Police reported that the treated plot appeared to cool more effectively than the plot sprayed with water alone. Officers used nine containers from the 50 supplied to the police department.

However, the observation represents an initial field assessment. Police had not released comparative temperature readings, data on subsequent reignition, laboratory findings or an independent environmental evaluation when this article was prepared.

Further monitoring will therefore determine whether the solution can suppress embers below the peat surface over time.

Police units in other provinces have also tested X-Fire. The National Police (Polri) recently sent 4,000 liters of the formula to South Sumatra for peatland firefighting, with instructions to combine it with water.

Polri described the product as a supporting agent for rapid suppression and the prevention of underground reignition.

A separate trial in Riau produced encouraging initial observations. However, officers said they needed one or two days of additional monitoring to establish whether the underground fire had fully stopped.

That caution also applies to the Ketapang test. The trial took place as West Kalimantan continued to face extensive karhutla.

BMKG recorded 2,102 high-confidence hotspots across the province during the 10 days preceding September 10. This was the second-highest provincial total reported in its national outlook. BMKG said smoke could persist during the dry conditions.

Muara Pawan has received particular attention after fires spread around Sungai Awan Kiri village. Authorities have conducted suppression operations and investigated suspected illegal land clearing in the area.

“We will continue evaluating every method used to tackle forest and land fires,” Putra said.

“Our priorities are personnel safety, effective suppression and preventing the fire from reappearing or spreading to other areas.”

The trial may help authorities refine their response to peat fires. However, continued monitoring and independently measurable results remain essential before officials can determine X-Fire’s wider operational value.