Forest and Land Fire Hotspots in Sumatra Surge to 1,097 Points, Riau Records 158

The number of hotspots indicating forest and land fires (Karhutla) in Sumatra has surged to 1,097 points. A total of 158 of these hotspots were detected in Riau Province. Forecaster on Duty at the Pekanbaru Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), Deby, stated that the latest satellite monitoring identified 1,097 hotspots across Sumatra, with the highest number detected in South Sumatra at 432 hotspots, followed by Riau with 158, Jambi with 157, and Lampung with 121. “Then Bangka Belitung had 84 hotspots, Riau Islands had 42, West Sumatra had 31, North Sumatra had 29, Aceh had 25, and Bengkulu had 18 hotspots,” she said on Thursday (13/8). The 158 hotspots in Riau Province were spread across 11 regencies and cities, with the highest number detected in Indragiri Hulu Regency at 36 hotspots. This was followed by Bengkalis with 35, Indragiri Hilir with 25, Pelalawan with 20, and Kuantan Singingi with 10 hotspots. Furthermore, Rokan Hilir had 8 hotspots, Rokan Hulu had 7, Siak had 6, Kampar had 5, Kepulauan Meranti had 4, and Dumai had 2 hotspots. Meanwhile, the Head of the Sumatra Forest Fire Control Centre, Ferdian Krisnanto, emphasised that his team, consisting of several Manggala Agni brigades, is still working intensively to conduct extinguishing operations in various regions of Sumatra, including Riau Province. “It must be reiterated that this is not about achievements. This is an important warning; the weather conditions, climate, and strong El Niño need to be anticipated going forward. The escalation may continue to rise along with the peak of the dry season. Manggala Agni and all task forces are working and striving. We are doing the best we can, operations are continuously being carried out, we are making every possible effort,” he asserted.