Antara 15 Sep 18;
Banda Aceh, Aceh (ANTARA News)- A total of 157 hotspots, indicating forest and plantation fires, were detected across Sumatra Island on Saturday, according to the Blang Bintang meteorology, climatology and geophysics office.
The hotspots were found in the provinces of South Sumatra, Lampung, Bangka Belitung, Riau, Jambi, and West Sumatra, Zakaria Ahmad of the local meteorology office, said here, on Saturday.
Of the total, 60 hotspots were believed to come from fires with trust level of over 81 percent.
The number of hotspots detected across Sumatra was an increase from 154 hotspots on the previous day (Friday, Sept 14).
Based on monitoring by Terra and Aqua satellites, 77 hotspots were found in South Sumatra, 33 each in Lampung and Bengkulu, 14 in Bangka Belitung, nine in Riau, four in West Sumatra, three in Jambi, and one on Riau Island.
In Riau, four hotspots were found in Indragiri Hulu District, two in Rokan Hilir, and one each in Bengkalis, Pelalawan, and Meranti Island.
Brigadier General Sonny Aprianto, commander of the Riau forest fire task force, had earlier ordered for firm action against arsonists.
He also gave shoot-at-sight orders to his officers against perpetrators of forest and plantation fires.
The commander believed that 99 percent of the forest and plantation fires in Sumatra were induced by human activities.
By imposing legal enforcement and firm control, the Indonesian government has managed to reduce forest fires by 96.5 percent across the country during the 2015-2017 period.
Based on data obtained from NOAA`s satellites, 21,929 hotspots were found across Indonesia in 2015, and the figure dropped to 3,915 in 2016, and again 2,257 in 2017, according to Raffles B. Panjaitan, director of forest and plantation fire control of the environmental affairs and forestry ministry.
The wild fires had razed a total of 2,611,411 hectares in 2015, and the figure decreased to 438,360 hectares in 2016, and again to 165,464 hectares in 2017.
Reporting by Muhammad Said
Editing by Bustanuddin
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Authorities struggle to fight fires on Mt. Sindoro-Sumbing, hiking trails remain closed
Suherdjoko Suherdjoko The Jakarta Post 15 Sep 18;
The authorities are scrambling to tackle land and forest fires that have ravaged Mount Sindoro and Mount Sumbing in Central Java, but challenging terrain and strong winds are hampering the efforts to extinguish the fires.
A joint team comprising personnel from the Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), the Indonesian Military and the police, as well as volunteers, have intensified mitigation efforts since the fire started. But as of Friday, the fires persisted.
“Even helicopters face difficulties in extinguishing the fires by water bombing, as they can barely maneuver through such challenging terrain,” BPBD Temanggung acting head Gito Wangaldi said on Friday.
The fires on Mt. Sindoro, which started on Friday last week, have burned through 245 hectares of land and vegetation in the area, while 239 ha has been burned through by the fires on Mt. Sumbing, which started to spread on Monday, BPBD data shows.
“Strong winds may cause the fire to spread quickly, which can put volunteers who don’t know the area at risk,” said BPBD Wonosobo acting head Prayitno.
In the meantime, the authorities have contained the fires on Mt. Sindoro so that the blaze would not spread to the south, where the Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center has installed a seismograph, 100 meters from the location of the fires, Central Java Search and Rescue field coordinator Sutikno said.
All hiking trails leading up to the summits of the mountains have been closed and there were no hikers trapped in the areas, Prayitno added. (afr/swd)
