Ba Ria - Vung Tau: Forest fire risk is at the highest level

More than 28,000 hectares of forest in Ba Ria - Vung Tau province are facing the risk of level V forest fires (extremely dangerous level).

Ba Ria - Vung Ta has more than 28,000 hectares of forest, of which the natural forest area is more than 16,000 hectares and the planted forest area is more than 12,000 hectares. According to information from the Ba Ria - Vung Tau Forest Protection Department, since the beginning of the 2023-2024 dry season, 11 forest fires have been recorded in the province, occurring in Xuyen Moc, Dat Do districts, Vung Tau city and Phu My town. The total burned area is about 16 hectares, of which the damaged forest area is 2 hectares.

VIDEO : Ba Ria - Vung Tau warns of highest level of forest fire risk

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Forests in Ba Ria - Vung Tau are at the highest forest fire warning level "Extremely dangerous". Notably, within just 3 days (from April 10 to 12, 2024), Ba Ria - Vung Tau province recorded 2 alarming forest fires. The first fire occurred on April 12 in Chau Pha commune, Toc Tien district, burning about 4 hectares of cajuput forest. The second fire broke out again on the mountain

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On the same day, April 12, another grass fire broke out in the forest land border area of Long Huong ward, Ba Ria city. Forest rangers, fire police, local people, forest owners... continued to be mobilized to the scene to put out the fire.

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In the Long Dien - Dat Do area, since the beginning of the dry season, there has been a forest fire on the evening of February 19 in the Chau Long pagoda area, Phuoc Hai town, Long Dien district. Thanks to the 24/7 patrol force, the fire was detected early, and after nearly 3 hours, the fire was controlled, without causing any damage to the forest. Due to the particularly rugged terrain of the forest in Ba Ria - Vung Tau province, with more than 3/4 of the area being steep hills and mountains, traffic is mainly on trails, making it very difficult to fight fires when an incident occurs.

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Furthermore, the dry season climate with strong and continuous winds, depleted water sources from streams, very low air humidity, is a "fuse" that causes the risk of forest fires to increase seriously. "The forest and forestry land areas are interspersed with agricultural land, residential areas, along with a dense system of roads and forest entrances, making it extremely difficult to control people entering and exiting the forest, especially during holidays and Tet. This is also one of the potential factors causing the risk of forest fires in the province", said a representative of the Ba Ria - Vung Tau Forest Protection Department.

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Faced with the complicated situation of forest fires, functional forces in conjunction with forest owners regularly patrol to promptly detect and handle forest fires as well as prevent the risk of forest fires from occurring.