Joint team extinguishes 10-hectare forest fire in Sumatran tiger habitat

Pekanbaru (ANTARA) - A joint team has extinguished a forest and land fire covering 10 hectares in the Sumatran Tiger Habitat Area of the Kerumutan Wildlife Reserve, Kerumutan District, Pelalawan Regency, Riau Province.

Pelalawan Police Chief Adjunct Senior Commissioner John Louis Letedara directly led the emergency firefighting operation in the vulnerable area. The operation involved forces from various relevant agencies to prevent the spread of flames across the dry peatland.

“As a firefighting measure, we deployed 42 Pelalawan Police personnel along with officers from the sector police, assisted by military personnel, local residents, and company staff,” John said in a statement received in Pekanbaru on Wednesday.

The joint team faced additional challenges due to limited water sources and locations that were difficult to reach with operational vehicles. The distance from the water source to the site was approximately 25 kilometres.

“This synergy succeeded in taming the surface fire, but the joint team remains on standby carrying out cooling operations to ensure the embers within the peat are completely extinguished,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) Pekanbaru Station recorded 87 hotspots detected across various areas of Riau Province on Wednesday (19/8). Pelalawan Regency accounted for the highest number with 40 hotspots.