Officers Put Out 2.7 Hectare Forest And Forest Fires In Dumai And Rokan Hilir

ANTARA/Aswaddy Hamid/24.

PeKANBARU - Riau Regional Disaster Management Agency officers together with the TNI, Polri including Manggala Agni and the community care about fires to extinguish forest and land fires (Karhutla) covering an area of 2.7 hectares in Dumai City and Rokan Hilir Regency.

Head of BPBD RiauEdy Afrizal said the fire broke out in Tanjung Palas and Medang Kampai, Dumai City covering an area of 1.7 hectares. Meanwhile, at Simpang Lasa Kepenghuluan Sei Gajah, Kubu District, Rohil covers an area of 1 hectare.

"Based on reports from officers in the field on February 26, the forest and land fires occurred in Dumai and Rohil. It was reported that 2.7 hectares of land were burned," he said as quoted by ANTARA, Wednesday, February 28.

Currently, he continued, officers are still struggling at the Karhutla location to extinguish the fire, all of which are from the land route. Some of the burned land has been successfully extinguished and is even in the cooling process.

One of them is in the Sei Gajah Hamlet, Kubu District, Rohil. The fire that burned the community gardens in the area has been tamed and is in the cooling process.

Forest and land fires in Riau count from early January to 26 February 2024, the total burned area has reached 21.80 hectares. The locations are Dumai 13.40 hectares, Bengkalis 4.30 hectares, Meranti Islands two hectares, Siak one hectare, Pekanbaru 0.05 hectares, and Kuantan Singingi also 0.05 hectares.

Meanwhile, for Kampar, Pelalawan, Indragiri Hulu, Inderagiri Hilir, Rokan Hulu, it is reported that until now no land has been burned. "The total area of land burned as of early January 2024 has so far been 21, 80 hectares," said Edy.

Edy appealed to the public and companies that open land so as not to burn. This needs to be considered so that there is no forest and land fires. Especially now that some areas in Riauintensitas have rained.

Now his party continues to monitor the situation in districts/cities. If the conditions are already dry season, then his party will inform districts/cities to immediately establish an emergency alert status for Karhutla 2024.

"Because the determination of the alert status is an effort to anticipate earlier. Because until now only Dumai City has established the emergency alert status of Karhutla," he said.