Manggala Agni Battles 10-Hectare Forest and Land Fire in Rokan Hilir, Riau

The main obstacles on the ground are the abundance of combustible material at the site and strong winds.

Pekanbaru, (ANTARA) - Manggala Agni of the Sumatra Forest and Land Fire Control Centre under the Ministry of Forestry of the Republic of Indonesia continues to battle a forest and land fire covering 10 hectares in Rokan Hilir Regency, Riau Province.

Ferdian Krisnanto, head of the Sumatra Forest Fire Control Centre, said the fire occurred in Bagan Punak village, Bangko District. Extinguishing efforts have been carried out for two days by the Manggala Agni Dumai Operational Area.

“This is the second day of extinguishing in Bagan Punak, Bangko, Rohil, with an estimated area of 10 hectares by the Manggala Agni Daops Dumai together with other parties. The fire has not yet been extinguished, and efforts will continue tomorrow,” he said in a statement received in Pekanbaru on Wednesday evening.

According to him, the obstacles in the field are the abundance of fuel material at the site and strong winds. For this reason, his team has also received water-bombing helicopter assistance from the air task force.

Meanwhile, the firefighting team travelling in four-wheel vehicles was caught in traffic congestion and only managed to reach the location on Tuesday afternoon (14/7). As a result, extinguishing efforts could only begin on Wednesday morning (15/7).

“The initial team conducted a survey first to identify all water sources, the condition of the fuel material, and access routes,” he said.

He added that at the same time, the team is also carrying out extinguishing operations in another part of Rokan Hilir, namely in Sungai Segajah Jaya village, Kubu District. The fire there covers 7.5 hectares, and a total area of 4 hectares had been extinguished by Tuesday (14/7).