Nearly 3,000 Fire Hotspots Detected Across Sumatra, BMKG Says
BMKG detected 2,945 fire hotspots across Sumatra, with South Sumatra recording the highest number at 1,429 as smoke shrouded parts of Riau.
On Monday, August 24, the Pekanbaru Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency (BMKG) in Riau Province reported 2,945 hotspots across Sumatra. Forecaster Gita Dewi S said the hotspots were detected in 10 provinces, with South Sumatra recording the highest number at 1,429. Other provinces with high hotspot counts included Riau (491), Jambi (437), Lampung (203), Bangka Belitung (115), Aceh (114), North Sumatra (64), the Riau Islands (53), West Sumatra (20), and Bengkulu (19).
In Riau, Pelalawan Regency suffered the most, with 239 hotspots, followed by Indragiri Hilir Regency with 166 and Bengkalis Regency with 30. The high number of hotspots led to reduced visibility in Pekanbaru, down to 2.5 kilometers on Sunday night, and unhealthy air quality, classified as very unhealthy by PM2.5 measurements. In response, the Pekanbaru Education Agency began implementing remote learning for students from early childhood education through junior high school.
Forest and land fire mitigation unit Manggala Agni reported that fires in Riau had burned over 800 hectares of land, with Indragiri Hulu Regency affected the most, losing approximately 471 hectares. Pelalawan recorded around 300 hectares of burned land, with Kampar Regency also impacted.
Written by urgent.news from Tempo.co English's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
