Joint Officers Put Out Forest And Land Fires In 4 Locations In Riau

Joint officers extinguished forest and land fires in four areas in Riau. (doc. Antara.)

PEKANBARU - Joint officers from the TNI-Polri, Manggala Agni and the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) extinguished forest and land fires (karhutla) that occurred in four districts in Riau, Sunday (18/6).

"The four areas hit by forest and land fires are in the Kelurahan Air Hitam Pekanbaru City, in Rantau Village Bais Rokan Hilir and in Bengkalis Regency and Indragiri Hulu Regency," said Head of BPBD Riau M. Edi Afrizal as reported by ANTARA, Monday, June 19.

He said joint officers had jumped into the four forest and land fires to extinguish the fire.

In addition to extinguishing measures on land, he said the blackout was also by air using water booming helicopters.

"Sunday (18/6) the water boom helicopters have all flown to extinguish the burning of land in Pekanbaru City, in Rokan Hilir Regency, Bengkalis Regency and in Indragiri Hulu Regency," said Edi.

He said the forest and land fires in Pekanbaru City and Rohil Regency had started to extinguish, but they still left smoke rising into the air and joint officers were still at the location to cool down.

Observing the weather conditions in Riau which are quite hot and dry, he said, the Riau BPBD appealed to the public not to clear land by burning.

"Don't throw cigarette butts carelessly with burning coal, especially when in gardens, empty soil or in the forest," he said.

In addition, for those who like to fish, don't make fires to burn fish orILhead flames. Make sure all the fire is extinguished and the location of the fish burn is left home and don't just let the fire burn because of the potential for fire.

BPBD Riau juga meminta masyarakat agar segera laporasi kepada petugas dan aparat setempat yang terdekat jika di daerah mereka temukan ada kebakaran hutan dan lahan.

"The report is useful so that officers can immediately handle and extinguish the fire, because if the fire spreads, it will be difficult for officers to extinguish the fire. Take care of the village itself so that the fire does not spread," he said.