Pekanbaru, Riau, July 18 (Antarariau.com) - Riau's Land and Forest Fire Task Force, on Wednesday, deployed six water bombing and patrol helicopters to contain the spread of hotspots in the area.
"We have deployed all our helicopters today," Head of the Riau Regional Disaster Management Agency Edwar Sanger stated here on Wednesday.
The six helicopters include a Bell 430 patrol helicopter, two water bombers Kamov K-32A, and a water bomber Sikorsky S61-A, the four being provided by the National Disaster Management Agency.
Two other helicopters are a Super Puma N-5893Y provided by pulp and paper producer Sinarmas, and a Bell 412 SP provided by the Forestry and Environment Ministry.
"Our operation today would cover Dumai, Rokan Hilir, Rokan Hulu, Pelalawan, and Siak," he added.
Earlier on in the day, the Indonesian Agency for Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics (BMKG) had detected 80 hotspots that indicated forest and land fires in Riau Province.
"The hotspots have spread in seven districts and cities in Riau," Head of BMKG Pekanbaru Station Sukisno noted.
The hotspots were detected through images captured by the Terra and Aqua satellite at 6 a.m. local time, with 42 hotspots detected in Rokan Hilir, 16 in Dumai, 10 in Bengkalis, five in Pelalawan, two in Rokan Hulu, and four in Siak District.
Of the 80 detected hotspots, 66 strongly indicated forest fires, with a 70 percent confidence level, spread across 37 locations in Rokan Hilir, 15 in Dumai, five in Bengkalis, one in Meranti, four in Siak, and two hotspots respectively in Rokan Hulu and Pelalawan.
During the past few days, the task force has intensified its preparedness to counter forest fires in the region.
According to the BMKG, the potential of land and forest fires has increased since the intensity of rains in Riau is expected to continue to decline.
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Six Helicopters are Deployed to Overcome Forest Fires in Riau
