Forest and Land Fires in Rokan Hilir Not Fully Extinguished, Joint Team Focuses on Cooling

The process of extinguishing forest and land fires (Karhutla) in Pulau Serdang Hamlet, Bukit Selamat Village, Simpang Kanan District, Rokan Hilir Regency, Riau, is ongoing. So far, the joint team has managed to ensure there are no more hotspots, although plumes of smoke are still visible in several parts of the burnt peatland. Based on a report from Manggala Agni Daops V/Dumai, the total area of land burned reached approximately 7 hectares. Of this area, around 2 hectares have been successfully extinguished through ground operations. The Head of the Sumatra Forest Fire Control Centre, Ferdian Krisnanto, stated that the current focus of the extinguishing efforts is to ensure the fire does not reappear, given the characteristics of peatland which still harbours embers beneath the surface. ‘Smoke is still being monitored at several points, so the team continues to carry out extinguishing, cooling, and containment to ensure the underground embers are completely out and to prevent the fire from spreading or reigniting,’ said Ferdian on Sunday (12/7). He explained that the extinguishing process involves one team from Manggala Agni Daops V/Dumai along with personnel from the police, military, sub-district Satpol PP, the Fire-Aware Community (MPA), and local residents. ‘Karhutla handling is carried out in an integrated manner with all elements on the ground. This synergy is very important so that fire control can run more quickly and effectively, especially on peatland which has a higher level of difficulty in the extinguishing process,’ he said. He revealed that the land conditions, dominated by peat with ilalang grass, shrubs, and oil palm vegetation, pose a challenge in the extinguishing process. In addition, the availability of natural fuel at the site is still quite abundant, so the team continues to carry out containment to prevent the fire from spreading to other areas. During the operation, the team utilised various firefighting equipment, including a Mavic 3 Pro drone for aerial monitoring, two complete minisitiri units, one Hilux vehicle, and two motorcycles to support personnel mobilisation in the field. Water sources for extinguishing were obtained from two ditches around the site, each with a width of about two metres and a depth of approximately one metre. The weather conditions throughout the day were reported as partly cloudy with a wind speed of around 11 kilometres per hour. As of now, the joint team is still monitoring the situation at the fire location. ‘We will continue monitoring and cooling until the location is confirmed to be completely safe. Our priority is to prevent the fire from spreading and to anticipate the potential emergence of new hotspots in areas that are still emitting smoke,’ he concluded.