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

The Manggala Agni, part of the Sumatran Forest Fire Control Brigade under the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry, is continuing its efforts to extinguish a forest and land fire covering an estimated 10 hectares in Rokan Hilir Regency, Riau Province. The fire is located in the village of Bagan Punak, Bangko District. Ferdian Krisnanto, Head of the Sumatran Forest Fire Control Centre, stated that the Manggala Agni Daops Dumai team, along with other parties, has been conducting firefighting operations for two days. ‘This is the second day of firefighting in Bagan Punak, Bangko, Rohil, with an estimated area of 10 hectares. The fire is not yet extinguished and will continue tomorrow,’ he said in a statement received in Pekanbaru on Wednesday evening. He noted that the main challenges on the ground are the abundance of combustible material and strong winds, prompting the deployment of water-bombing helicopters from the air task force. The ground firefighting team, using four-wheeled vehicles, was stuck in traffic and only managed to reach the location on Tuesday afternoon, meaning firefighting operations could only commence on Wednesday morning. ‘The initial team carried out data collection first to ascertain all water sources, the condition of the combustible materials, and access,’ he explained. Simultaneously, the team is also tackling another fire in the Rohil region, specifically in Sungai Segajah Jaya Village, Kubu District, which has burned 7.5 hectares, with 4 hectares successfully extinguished on Tuesday.