The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) station of Pekanbaru has detected a surge in the number of hotspots that indicated land and forest fires in the coastal area of Riau in Meranti Islands District.
The Terra and Aqua satellites on Friday had detected 33 hotspots in the district, the highest number during 2019.
"The hotspots in Meranti are located mostly in Tebing Tinggi Sub-district, while others are in West Tebing Tinggi," head of BMKG Pekanbaru Sukisno noted.
Baca juga: Forest fires gut 1,136 hectares of area in Riau
Currently, hundreds of personnel of the military, police, Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), and the Ministry of Environment and Forestry are still focusing their efforts on extinguishing forest fire in the neighboring district of Bengkalis in Rupat Island.
The number of personnel to stop the fire has increased during the past three weeks.
Bengkalis and Meranti are located in the coastal area of Riau, bordering with Malaysia.
Sukisno said, the agency has detected a total 39 hotspots in Riau of which 33 hotspots are located in Meranti, three in Bengkalis, and one hotspot respectively in Indragiri Hilir, Rokan Hilir, and Pelalawan.
Some 35 hotspots are confirmed as forest fires, with accuracy level of 70 to 100 percent.
Baca juga: Satellites detect 11 hotspots in Riau`s coastal area
Baca juga: Forest fires gut 1,136 hectares of area in Riau
BMKG Detects surge in hotspots in Meranti islands district
BMKG deteksi titik panas di Riau (ilustrasi)
