Joint Officers Still Put Out Forest And Land Fires In Kampar

A number of Manggala Agni and TNI officers extinguished the fire in forest and land fires in Tarai Bangun Village, Kampar Regency, Riau, Monday (28/8/2023). ANTARA/HO-Manggala Agni Riau

PEKANBARU - Joint officers from Manggala Agni and TNI are still continuing the blackout of land and forest fires (karhutla) in Tarai Bangun Village, Kampar Regency, Riau, which has spread to about one hectare since Monday (28/8) until today.

"The location of the hotspots is only a few meters away from SMP Negeri 8 school mines or ditch barriers. Because smoke entered the classroom, it resulted in children having to go home early," said Head of Manggala Agni for Operations in Sumatra IV/Pekanbaru, Chaerul Parsaulian Ginting, as reported by ANTARA, Tuesday, August 29.

He said initially the land fire near the school on Sunday (27/8), then spread to this Tuesday.

Officers got obstacles in extinguishing the fire because the fire was already in peat. This resulted in long officers extinguishing the fire.

"The condition of the land is speeding up to a depth of three meters, so it takes a long time to extinguish it and needs cooling down the peatlands, while water sources for extinguishing are available on the canal," he said.

Even though the officers had struggled to extinguish the fire, until Monday (28/8) afternoon the fire was still there, so the process continued until Tuesday morning. The same land was burned in 2019.

Forecaster on Duty of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) Pekanbaru Station, Sanya Gautami, said that on Tuesday rain with light to heavy intensity which can be accompanied by lightning and strong winds still have the potential to flush Riau in the morning and evening.