Prevent the risk of forest fires in the hot season

According to the review of the Forestry Department, currently the whole province has over 42,300 hectares of forest at very high risk of fire during extremely hot days.

Prevent the risk of forest fires in the hot season Forest rangers of Thach Thanh Forest Protection Department clear vegetation and limit combustible materials under the pine forest canopy in Thanh Long commune (Thach Thanh).

In addition to objective causes such as hot weather and fires spreading from Laos (mainly in Muong Lat district), subjective factors caused by human impact also cause many difficulties for forest fire prevention and fighting (PCCCR). Of which, with nearly 10,000 hectares of pine forests, mainly concentrated in Nghi Son town, Nhu Thanh, Ha Trung, Hau Loc, Thach Thanh, Hoang Hoa, Dong Son, Thanh Hoa city, there is a high risk of fire. Particularly, 5,000 hectares of pine forests managed by State forest owners have been paid attention to clearing the undergrowth and burning under the pine forest canopy to reduce combustible materials. The remaining nearly 5,000 hectares are managed by the People's Committees of communes, assigned to households for protection and care, but due to lack of conditions for resin exploitation, no source of income and no wages for care and protection, households have not paid attention to clearing the undergrowth under the forest canopy. Typically, many pine forests in the communes: Yen Son (Ha Trung), Trieu Loc, Tien Loc, Thanh Loc (Hau Loc),... the layer of humus, dry branches, fallen leaves under the thick forest canopy, if people use fire carelessly, during the forest fire season, it will happen at any time... In addition, because fallen pine needles decompose slowly, leading to a thick humus layer, the amount of water in pine needles is low, the tree trunks have oil combined with rang rang, sim, mua, lau lac, which is a concern for forest fires during hot weather days.

To protect the forest, the Provincial Forest Protection Department has advised the Provincial People's Committee and relevant departments, branches and sectors to develop and effectively implement the forest fire prevention and control plan, the plan to mobilize forces and means for forest fire prevention and control; and to build a forest fire prevention and control combat map at the provincial and district levels. From the province to the district, commune and forest owners, they have proactively prepared forces, means and logistics for forest fire prevention and control. The Provincial Forest Protection Department has advised on the issuance of a complete system of directive documents and the establishment of inspection teams for forest fire prevention and control in key districts with high risk of forest fires; promptly rectifying and removing shortcomings, difficulties and obstacles in the process of directing and organizing the implementation of forest protection (BVR) and forest fire prevention and control at the grassroots level.

Forest rangers advise local authorities to direct functional units in the area to coordinate with tourist areas, forest owners, temple and shrine management boards to effectively carry out forest fire prevention and control work in the area. Proactively propagate and disseminate laws on forest fire prevention and control. During the hot season, especially during the April 30 and May 1 holidays this year, forest rangers have proactively arranged a standing force for forest fire prevention and control; prepared according to the "4 on-site" motto to be ready to fight forest fires when required. Coordinate with local authorities and relevant units to regularly patrol and inspect forest fire prevention and control; propagate to people and tourists at temples, pagodas, places of spiritual worship, tourist attractions, camping sites, etc. to use fire properly, not to break branches, or cut down forest trees, etc.

By the end of April 2024, 100% of key districts had developed plans for forest fire prevention and control management; completed 1,046 grassroots forest fire prevention and control teams with more than 8,800 participants, and developed plans to mobilize forces, vehicles, and logistics to be ready for forest fire prevention and control. The Forest Protection Department has installed 11 high-resolution IP camera stations to take pictures of forests to meet the requirements of automatic early detection of forest fires. When a forest fire occurs, images of the fire will be transmitted to users' mobile devices or computers, thereby promptly determining the location and scale of the fire to have measures to mobilize forces and vehicles for effective forest fire prevention and control.

Forest rangers have coordinated with local authorities to check areas at high risk of forest fires and strictly manage the causes of forest fires. They are on duty at PCCCR on the forest fire surveillance camera system and at 53 forest fire watch points in key forest fire areas when forest fires are forecast to be level III or higher; and they have renewed and repaired over 33km of firebreaks.

In the first four months of the year, the forest rangers coordinated with forest owners and authorities in coastal plain districts to handle combustible materials under the pine forest canopy by controlled pre-burning on over 65 hectares to limit the risk of forest fires. Through inspection and assessment by the Forestry Department, pre-burning reduced 70-85% of combustible materials, thereby reducing the risk of fires during the hot season.

Thanks to the synchronous and effective implementation of forest protection and fire prevention solutions, up to now, there have been no forest fires in the whole province, and forest security has been maintained stably.

News and photos: Thu Hoa

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