Within A Day, Hotspots Of Forest And Land Fire Indications In Riau Increase Sharply

A policeman jumps to avoid an area on burning peatland in Teluk Makmur Village, Medang Kampai sub-district, Dumai, Riau (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - The number of hotspots observed in the Riau Province on Monday, February 22 increased dramatically to 63 from only nine the previous day. These hotspots are an early indication of forest and land fires (karhutla).

"When compared to the previous day, which only had nine hotspots, this Monday morning the number has increased very high," said the Pekanbaru Station of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), Yasir Prayuna, as quoted by Antara in Pekanbaru.

According to BMKG Pekanbaru Station monitoring, on Monday, February 22 morning at 06.00 Western Indonesia Time, a total of 126 hotspots indicated an initial indication of forest and land fires in Sumatera and 63 of them were in Riau Province.

In the province of Riau, hotspots for the initial indication of forest and land fires were observed in Bengkalis Regency (18), Pelalawan Regency (32), Dumai City (7), Rokan Hilir Regency (4), Meranti Islands Regency (1), and Indragiri Hilir Regency (1 ).

Yasir stated that the province of Riau is currently entering its first dry season, in contrast to other areas in Java, which are currently still experiencing the rainy season.

"Riau has different characteristics because the opposite is when in Java the conditions are wet, then Riau is dry. Now Riau is having the first dry season until April," he said.

According to him, the air temperature in Riau ranges from 32 to 33 degrees Celsius and the humidity is low so the air feels hot and stifling.

"Until now, there is no chance it will rain," he said.

Chief Executive of the Riau Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) Edwar Sanger said that the hot weather and the number of hotspots that had increased drastically made the Riau region prone to forest and land fires.

"Hotspots have skyrocketed, but we are currently coordinating whether they are still hotspots," he said.

He said that the Riau Forest and Land Fires Task Force was trying to optimize the use of existing facilities and infrastructure to prevent and deal with land fires while waiting for helicopter assistance from the National Disaster Management Agency.

The Riau Provincial Government has imposed an emergency forest and land fire alert status from February to the end of October 2021 to optimize efforts to prevent and control forest and land fires during the dry season.