Overcoming Forest Fires In Rokan Ilir, Riau BPBD Deploys Two Helicopters

Head of Riau BPBD M Edy Afrizal (ANTARA)

The Riau Province Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) deployed two helicopters to help extinguish forest and land fires (karhutla) in Rokan Hilir (Rohil) Regency, Riau.

"The forest and land in Rohil have been on fire for the past three days. The team is trying to extinguish the fire and there has been no progress, because internet signals at the forest and land fires location are also bad to communicate," said Riau BPBD Head M Edy Afrizal as quoted by ANTARA, Saturday, May 27.

Edy said the condition of forest and land fires in Pasir Limau Kapas, Rokan Hilir Regency is isolated, difficult to access if extinguishing the fire by road, so efforts must be made by air.

Therefore, he said, in addition to deploying helicopters, his party also extinguished it through Weather Modification Technology (TMC) by seeding salt in the sky.

"For the seeding of salt in Riau sky in one seed, it reaches 800 kg to 1,000 kg. The area planted is in a dry and fire-prone district, especially coastal areas, such as in Indragiri Hilir (Inhil), Bengkalis, Dumai, and Rokan Hilir (Rohil) Regencies," he said.

He also hopes that the rain that falls will be able to wet dry land, so that it can prevent fires.

BMKG Pekanbaru Station released information on the latest hotspots on the island of Sumatra recorded 100 points, spread across the Province of West Sumatra (West Sumatra) 31 points, South Sumatra (Sumsel) 17 points, Lampung 14 points

Next, in Bengkulu 13 points, Bangka Belitung six points, North Sumatra (North Sumatra) four points, Aceh three points, Jambi one point, and Riau 11 points.

"In Riau there are 11 hotspots, all of them are in Rokan Hilir, namely in Pasir Limau District, Kapas," said Forecaster BMKG Pekanbaru Anggun.

The Pekanbaru BMKG also predicts that the weather for the Riau region on Saturday, May 27 will rain with light to moderate intensity during the day and will last until early morning. Uneven rain only occurs in parts of Riau.

During the afternoon to evening, the potential for rain with light to moderate intensity occurred in parts of Riau. This potential occurs in Dumai City, Pekanbaru City, Rokan Hulu Regency, Rokan Hilir, Kampar, Pelalawan, Indragiri Hulu, Siak, Bengkalis, and Kuantan Singingi.

Meanwhile, at night, said Anggun, the potential for rain with light to moderate intensity occurred in parts of Pekanbaru City, Rokan Hulu Regency, Rokan Hilir, Kampar, Bengkalis, and Kuantan Singingi.

In the early morning the potential for light rain occurred in parts of Kampar, Kuantan Singingi, Indragiri Hulu, Meranti Islands, and Pelalawan regencies.

The BMKG issued an early warning to be aware of the potential for rain with moderate to heavy intensity which can be accompanied by lightning and strong winds. Riau air temperature today is at 22.0 33.0 C with humidity 58 98 percent.

Meanwhile, the direction of the wind blows to the south-west at a speed of 1030 km/h. The forecast for the wave height in the waters of Riau Province ranges from 0.50 1.25 meters.