Forest and Land Fires in Indragiri Hulu, Riau Reach 434 Hectares; Dense Vegetation and Scarce Water Sources Hamper Extinguishing Efforts

Manggala Agni Daerah Operasi (Daops) Rengat reported that the extent of forest and land fires (karhutla) in Sungai Guntung Hilir, Rengat District, Indragiri Hulu Regency, Riau Province, had reached 434.35 hectares as of Tuesday (18/8/2026).

Head of Manggala Agni Daops Rengat, Muhammad Sodik, explained that the figure was obtained through satellite imagery interpretation using Sentinel 2 sources. This area shows a significant increase compared to when it was first detected, which was only around 50 hectares.

“On the 16th day, the area successfully extinguished reached 2 hectares, with the total area already extinguished approximately 45 hectares. Meanwhile, the total burned area reached 434.35 hectares,” said Sodik in an official statement.

The fire struck a peatland area with shrub vegetation and oil palm plantations. Although the fire fronts on the west and north sides were reported to be under control, the fire has not been fully extinguished. Officers still found thin smoke and scattered embers on the forest floor.

Sodik added that the team’s current focus is cleaning up remaining embers beneath plant roots. This step is crucial on peatland to reduce the potential for re-ignition.

However, the field team faces a number of technical obstacles, including dense vegetation and limited water sources.

The firefighting effort in Riau is a cross-agency collaboration involving Manggala Agni personnel, the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI), the Indonesian National Police (Polri), and the Indragiri Hulu Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD Inhu).

In this operation, officers deployed four main firefighting pump units supported by technical equipment such as suction hoses, delivery hoses, Y connectors, and nozzles to reach difficult fire spots.