Hai Duong proactively prevents forest fires in the dry season

No major fires

Although propaganda work on forest fire prevention has been strengthened, due to the low awareness of some people, from the beginning of the year to the end of November, there were still some small forest fires in Kinh Mon town and Chi Linh city in the province.

On the evening of February 26, while on patrol, the authorities discovered a fire in the protective forest in Le Xa village, Le Ninh commune (Kinh Mon). The People's Committee of Kinh Mon town immediately mobilized firefighting forces including the Forest Protection Department, Forest Management Station, Police, the town's Military Command and officials and people of Le Ninh, Quang Thanh and Bach Dang communes to extinguish the fire. The fire scorched the roots and leaves of 1.2 hectares of protective forest including pine and acacia trees, affecting the growth and development of the trees. On May 23, another fire broke out in Le Ninh commune, covering 1.62 hectares of protective forest.

Mr. Mao Viet Hai, Head of Kinh Mon Forest Protection Department, said that forest fires often occur in the dry season due to little rain, dry sunshine, low humidity, dry branches, and fallen leaves, creating a very dangerous source of combustible materials. From November 2022 to May 2023, there were 9 small forest fires in Kinh Mon town. Although they did not cause serious consequences, the fires affected 7.4 hectares of forest. The main cause of forest fires is due to careless use of fire by local people and forest rangers.

Chi Linh City has more than 9,000 hectares of forest, accounting for the majority of the province's forest area (more than 11,000 hectares), mainly pine, acacia, and eucalyptus. Of which, natural forests are poor and are recovering after exploitation; planted forests are mostly pine and acacia, which are being exploited for resin and wood. Both types of forests are at high risk of fire. From the beginning of 2023 to now, there have been 3 small forest fires in Chi Linh City, which were detected early and promptly mobilized to put out the fires, so the damage was insignificant, only burning the surface vegetation, scorching the roots of trees, and not affecting the main crops.

However, the province's forest fire prevention and control still faces many difficulties due to the lack of firefighting equipment and means. Many firefighting vehicles have difficulty approaching the fire, so the main method of fighting forest fires is to use manual tools to extinguish the fire and isolate the fire. Mobilizing local human resources and non-local forest contract households is difficult, so when a forest fire occurs, it is difficult to communicate and coordinate timely handling.

Maintains highest level of wildfire warning

If a large forest fire occurs, it will cause very serious and long-term consequences. To proactively prevent and strictly control the risk of forest fires and minimize the number of fires and damage caused by forest fires, the People's Committee of Hai Duong province has promptly issued a Plan for forest fire prevention and fighting in the province with the motto "Prevention is the key, fire fighting is timely". In which, it directs sectors, units and localities to immediately deploy assigned tasks and have a deadline to complete the work.

The province has identified 10 key areas for forest fire prevention and control that need to be protected, including 6 in Chi Linh and 4 in Kinh Mon. The pine and acacia forests in the An Phu National Special Relic Site are the largest in Kinh Mon, covering 564.4 hectares. In addition to ensuring a 24/7 force, including holidays, the An Sinh Forest Ranger Station (Kinh Mon Forest Ranger Department) coordinates with the Cao Temple Relic Site Management Board to propagate and remind visitors to raise awareness of forest protection, not to use fire in the forest or near the forest, and to burn votive papers in designated places.

Faced with the unusual developments of a warm winter, little rain, prolonged dryness, and low humidity, since November 24, the Hai Duong Forest Protection Department has continuously issued forest fire warnings at the highest level, level V - extremely dangerous level, with a very high risk of forest fires spreading quickly across all types of forests.

Mr. Mac Dinh Thang, Head of Chi Linh Forest Protection Department, said: "We proactively advised the People's Committee of Chi Linh City to direct the police, military, forest rangers, forest owners and People's Committees of communes and wards to increase patrols and strictly inspect from 2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. every day in key fire areas. It is strictly forbidden to clear vegetation and burn gardens. Prepare plans to mobilize forces and means to respond to forest fire situations according to the "4 on-site" motto.

Mr. Vuong Cong Hai, who has contracted 14.4 hectares of special-use forest in the Phoenix Mountain area, Cong Hoa Ward (Chi Linh), said that recently, the commune radio station has continuously broadcast warnings of extremely dangerous forest fire risks, so people are always vigilant, prepare fire prevention and fighting equipment on site, and regularly check and protect their contracted forest area.