Indonesia: Haze thickens in Pekanbaru as hot spots drastically increase

Rizal Harahap, thejakartapost.com 30 Jul 15;

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) in Pekanbaru, Riau, has warned the country that air pollution will get worse as of Thursday morning. Terra and Aqua satellites detected 186 hot spots spread across eight regencies and municipalities throughout the province. On the previous day, Riau had only 40 hot spots spread throughout seven regencies and municipalities.

The agency reported that Pelalawan had 60 hot spots, making it the regency with the highest number of hot spots. Indragiri Hulu ranked second with 54 hot spots, followed by Indragiri Hilir (45), Siak (11), Dumai (six), Bengkalis (five), Kampar (thee) and Kuantan Singingi (two).

On Wednesday, BMKG Pekanbaru spotted one hot spot in Rokan Hilir regency.

“The hot spot disappeared on Thursday morning. However, five new hot spots have suddenly turned up in Kampar and Kuantan Singingi,” the agency said.

“As many as 140 of the total hot spots detected are fire spots with a trust level of above 70 percent. This indicates that there have been land fires in those areas,” BMKG Pekanbaru head Sugarin said.

He said 47 of the total hot spots were found in Indragiri Hulu, followed by Pelalawan (40), Indragiri Hilir (33), Siak (nine), Dumai (four), Bengkalis (three), and Kampar and Kuantan, which had two fire spots each.

“As of Thursday morning, the total number of hot spots in Sumatra has reached 326, with Riau as the province with the highest number of hot spots. Jambi ranks second with 51 hot spots, followed by South Sumatra (42), Lampung (eight), Bengkulu (six), North Sumatra (three) and West Sumatra (two),” said Sugarin.

While it had neither hot spots nor land or forest fires, Sugarin said that the air quality in Pekanbaru had continued to deteriorate, blanketed by smoke from land and forest fires from its neighboring regencies. Its air quality was still considered to be unhealthy.

“The visibility in Pekanbaru has also deteriorated, reaching only around 800 meters on Thursday morning. Dumai City is also blanketed with smoke, although its visibility still reaches five kilometers,” said Sugarin. (ebf)(++++)

Most land, forest fires in Riau extinguished: Agency
thejakartapost.com 30 Jul 15;

The Riau Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) has said that the Riau firefighting team had extinguished fires on 1,125 out of 1,264 hectares of land and forest in the province.

“As of Sunday, both air and land firefighter task forces have put out fires on 1,125.25 hectares of area by using, among others, weather modification technologies,” BPBD Riau head Edwar Sanger said as quoted by Antara in Pekanbaru on Thursday.

He said that as of July 26, the Riau air firefighting team, together with other teams including those from two big companies in the province, had carried out 25 fire-extinguishing processes by using weather modification technologies that involved several helicopters. The operations were part of efforts to reduce the bad effects of smoke exposure due to land and forest fires in 12 regencies and municipalities throughout Riau. The disaster might get worse as the dry season is predicted to last until December.

The Riau Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has warned of the possible impact of El Niño in several provinces, including Riau, in Indonesia. The weather phenomenon, which is associated with ocean warming that develops in equatorial Pacific areas, has led to an extreme dry season, making some areas prone to land and forest fires.

“For three days, from July 24 to 26, we spread 55.28 tons of salt as a kind of artificial rain. It means we brought around 2.4 tons of salt on each flight,” said Edwar.

Plantation company Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper (RAPP) said that it had helped the Riau firefighting task force to extinguish fires both inside and outside its concession areas in Pelalawan by using a helicopter.

“We found fire spots during a patrol in areas around RAPP concession areas that border with the Tesso Nilo National Park (TNTN). We reported our findings to TNTN officers and the Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA),” said the head of RAPP’s firefighting team for the Ukui area, Almei Hendra. (ebf)(+++)

Forest Fire Alert Issued as Hundreds of Hotspots Detected in Riau
Jakarta Globe 30 Jul 15;

Jakarta. Indonesia’s meteorological agency has detected more than a hundred fire hotspots in eight areas across Riau province on Thursday, warning residents and officials of exacerbating haze from forest and land fires.

Pekanbaru’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has so far identified 140 hotspots, with three particular districts expected to be the biggest contributors of haze, said BMKG chief Sugarin.

“Out of the eight districts, Pelalawan, Indragiri Hulu and Indragiri Hilir will likely be the source of the greatest amount of haze,” Sugarin said on Thursday.

Pelalawan currently has 40 fire hotspots, Indragiri Hilir has 33 and Indragiri Hulu 47, while the remaining are spread throughout Siak, Bengkalis, Dumai, Kampar and Kuantan Singingi.

Sugarin said the agency earlier detected 326 fire hotspots across seven provinces on Sumatra island, with the majority concentrated in Riau, where as of last Sunday 1,246 hectares of land have gone ablaze.
The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has dispatched two helicopters to waterbomb these areas in an attempt to prevent the fires from spreading.
“Each helicopter can operate for three hours before returning to headquarters to refuel,” said Riau BPBD chief Edwar Sanger.

The increasing number of fire hotspots emerging across the province has deteriorated its air quality, Sugarin said.
“According to our monitors, the air here has become unhealthy,” he said, adding that the number of residents suffering from respiratory ailments (ISPA) as a result of the haze has increased by 10 percent.
“More than 1,400 people are presently struggling with ISPA. Yet, this number is still categorized as normal,” said Helsa S. Munir, head of Pekanbaru’s health agency.

Riau has for years been plagued by debilitating haze caused by bush and forest fires, especially in the dry season.