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View all search resultsWildfires sweep through multiple regions in Sumatra
National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesperson Abdul Muhari said Riau province has become the epicenter of the recent wildfires on the island, recording the largest areas burned.
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Man vs. nature: A man tries to put out a forest fire on Sept. 22, 2019, near his village in Kampar, Riau. Forest fires remain Indonesia’s primary challenge to curbing carbon emissions.
(AFP/Wahyudi)
F
orest fires are raging across several parts of Sumatra as the dry season intensifies, scorching hundreds of hectares (ha) of land and causing haze that has been detected in neighboring Malaysia.
National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesperson Abdul Muhari said Riau province has become the epicenter of the recent wildfires on the island, recording the largest areas burned.
“All 12 regencies and cities in Riau have reported [wildfires]. The worst-hit areas are the regencies of Kampar and Bengkalis, where more than 100 ha have been burned,” he said on Monday, as quoted by Antaranews.
More than 100 local firefighters were still battling forest fires at 11 locations across the province as of Monday, with some blazes burning for up to six consecutive days.
Ferdian Krisnanto, head of the Sumatra Forest Fire Control Center, said difficult terrain and extremely dry vegetation have hampered firefighting efforts.
“Hot weather and strong winds have also accelerated the spread of the blaze,” he said on Monday.
The BNPB has deployed five water-bombing helicopters to support firefighting efforts and has also conducted several rounds of weather modification to induce rainfall in the region.
