TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) of Pekanbaru Station detected a total of 54 hotspots indicating land and forest fires in Riau Province.

Based on the Terra and Aqua Satellite on Friday, February 22, at 06:00 West Indonesian Time (WIB), the hotspots spread in seven regencies and cities in the province, with a confidence level of above 50 percent.

“Most of the hotspots location are detected in Bengkalis regency, up to 28 points,” said BMKG Pekanbaru head Sukisno in Pekanbaru.

He explained that hotspots in Bengkalis had spread to several locations, including 22 hotspots on Rupat Island and several sub-districts, namely Bantan, Bengkalis, and Mandau.

Read: BMKG Detects 8 Hotspots Indicating Forest Fires in Riau

In Indragiri Hilir regency, BMKG found 9 hotspots. It also spotted 6 hotspots in Dumai City, 4 hotspots in Rokan Hilir, 3 hotspots in Meranti and Pelalawan, and one hotspot in Siak.

BMKG noted that 40 of the 54 hotspots in Riau have been confirmed as fire spots, which indicated land and forest fires with a confidence level of over 70 percent: 22 fire spots in Bengkalis, 8 fire spots in Indragiri Hilir, five fire spots in Dumai, three fire spots in Rokan Hilir, one fire spot each in Meranti and Pelalawan.

The head of the Riau Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), Edwar Sanger, mentioned land fires since January 2019 had reached 857.71 hectares, most of them occurred in Bengkalis with up to 639 hectares.

ANTARA