A forest and land fire occurred in Humbang Hasundutan (Humbahas) Regency, resulting in the death of a woman in her own field, located in Dusun VI Albung, Parsingguran II Village, Pollung District, Humbahas Regency.
According to available data, the incident occurred on Saturday (July 19, 2025) at around 12:30 PM local time. The victim and her husband, Haris Saharif, both farmers, were initially clearing their field at the location of the incident around 10:00 AM.
The couple then proceeded to burn the shrubs in their field. However, strong winds caused the flames to spread toward a neighboring field, which was also covered with pine trees and used for pine resin tapping.
Seeing this, the victim climbed uphill toward the pine plantation in an attempt to extinguish the fire, while her husband tried to contain it from below.
It is suspected that the victim fainted while trying to put out the fire due to inhaling smoke coming from below, as the flames spread upward from their field. This led to her being burned and ultimately losing her life.
“The victim and her husband were burning shrubs in their field, as described in the chronology above. She became trapped by the fire due to the rapid spread caused by strong winds,” said the Head of Protection, Law Enforcement, and Capacity Building at the North Sumatra Environment and Forestry Office.
Upon witnessing the incident, the victim’s husband contacted his family via mobile phone at around 12:21 PM to seek help regarding the fire that had claimed his wife’s life.
Subsequently, the victim’s family, along with local residents and authorities, worked to extinguish the fire in the field until around 1:30 PM, when the flames were successfully put out.
After the fire was extinguished, the victim’s body was found lying on the ground, already deceased, and witnesses were informed. The local police are now handling the case of the land fire that killed the woman.
Given the high risk of forest and land fires, authorities have urged the public to avoid indiscriminate burning for land clearing or other purposes, as it may trigger such disasters.
“We advise the public to avoid clearing farmland or agricultural areas by burning, especially given the high temperatures and dry weather conditions. This is to prevent unwanted incidents in the future,” the official stated.
Lake Toba
Humbang Hasundutan
Humbahas
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