66 hotspots discovered in West Sumatra, Indonesia in 24 hours; 6 at high risk of forest fires

TIME.CO, Jakarta – The Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry has announced that 66 hotspots have been detected in West Sumatra in the past 24 hours, up to and including Tuesday, July 30. The data comes from the SiPongi website, a hotspot monitoring system developed by the government.

Yozarwardi, head of the West Sumatra Forestry Office, said there were a total of 6 red spots or high fire risk areas, 52 yellow spots and 8 green spots. The hotspots were found in three districts, namely Sijunjung (4 hot), Solok district (1) and Pesisir Selatan (61).

“Most of them were found in Pesisir Selatan regency, especially in the Silaut and Tapan areas,” Yozarwardi said Tempo when I contacted him shortly after the announcement.

According to Yozarwardi, only one hotspot has appeared in the past 12 hours, in Silaut, Pesisir Selatan Regency. He confirmed that the Pesisir Selatan Forest Management Unit (KPH) had sent a team to inspect and treat the hotspot.

He confirmed that the West Sumatra Forestry Agency had written to local authorities to prepare for land and forest fires. “We have also written to local government to be vigilant,” Yozarwadi said.

Ilham Wahab, head of the rehabilitation and reconstruction department of the West Sumatra Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), said his unit received two reports of land fires from the towns of Payakumbuh and Pesisir Selatan on July 27 and 29.

The July 27 fire was likely caused by carelessly discarded cigarettes that were blown around by the wind, “causing debris to land in various places,” he said.

On July 29, 2024, 5 hectares of land in Payakumbuh city were set on fire. Although the fire has been extinguished, the BPBD team is on standby, in collaboration with the West Sumatra Forestry Agency.

Fachri Hamzah

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