TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsRiau braces for more forest fires as rainy season nears end
Authorities also detected more than 200 hotspots across the province in January 2026, with at least 40 fire incidents recorded during the month.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
A firefighter battles a peatland wildfire on July 10, 2025, as forest and land fires returned amid extreme heat, in Rimba Panjang, Riau.
(AFP/Wahyudi)
R
iau is preparing for a higher risk of land and forest fires as the rainy season nears its end, while nearly 60 hectares have already caught fire across much of the province since the start of the year, officials said.
The head of Riau’s disaster mitigation and firefighting agency (BPBD Damkar), M. Edy Afrizal, said Riau saw 13 relatively large fires in six regencies in the past week alone, including the provincial capital Pekanbaru.
“All fires have been extinguished, and cooling operations are currently under way,” Edy said.
According to Edy, since January, fires have scorched 59.38 ha of land across 10 of Riau’s 12 regencies and cities, with Bengkalis regency and Pekanbaru the worst affected.
Authorities also detected more than 200 hotspots across the province in January 2026, with at least 40 fire incidents recorded during the month.
Edy said Riau has not yet declared an emergency alert status for forest and land fires, noting that response efforts are still being handled by local administrations.
“Coordination remains in place to ensure effective firefighting and to prevent further fires, particularly in areas still undergoing cooling,” he said.
