Forest fire warning at extremely dangerous level in Nghe An

According to the forecast of the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, the weather in Nghe An province from July 27, 2022 to August 1, 2022, the heat wave will continue to last, with some places experiencing severe heat with high temperatures, especially in the plain districts, with common temperatures ranging from 36-37 degrees Celsius and relatively low humidity.

The Steering Committee for urgent issues on forest protection and development, forest fire prevention and fighting in Nghe An province in 2022 warns of forest fires in forest areas in the province.Nghe Anfrom 27/7/2022 to 01/8/2022: Fromlevel 4 -danger levelarrivelevel 5- grantextremely dangerous.

Nghe An raises forest fire warning level as heatwave continues. Photo: Quang An

Faced with that risk, the Steering Committee requested the People's Committees of districts, cities and towns; Forest rangers; and forest owners to focus on and direct the implementation of forest fire prevention and fighting: Strictly implement the provisions of: Decree No. 156, Official Dispatch No. 905 of the Prime Minister on strengthening urgent measures to prevent and fight forest fires; Official Dispatch No. 3249 dated June 1, 2021 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on strengthening urgent measures to prevent and fight forest fires; Official Dispatch No. 243 dated June 10, 2022 of the Forestry Department on strengthening forest fire prevention and fighting; Directive No. 07 dated March 21, 2022 of the People's Committee of Nghe An province on strengthening measures to prevent and fight forest fires in Nghe An province in 2022.

Localities should strengthen direction for relevant agencies, levels and sectors in the area to proactively carry out forest fire prevention and fighting; assign clear and specific tasks to each agency, unit and individual in inspecting, supervising and urging the implementation of forest fire prevention and fighting in the locality.

In addition, it is necessary to direct local media agencies to strengthen propaganda, dissemination and legal education to raise people's awareness and responsibility in implementing regulations on forest management, protection and forest fire prevention and fighting; always proactively implement the "4 on-site" motto in forest fire fighting.

Strengthen inter-sectoral coordination (Forest Rangers, Police, Army and relevant forces) in forest protection, forest fire prevention and fighting; have plans to ensure forces, materials, equipment and logistics, be on standby and ready to coordinate forces to respond to and handle urgent situations in forest protection and forest fires; regularly inspect, promptly detect and strictly handle violations.

Localities need to maintain 24/7 staff on duty at fire watchtowers, arrange for people to regularly access and monitor the forest fire warning information system of the Forest Protection Department to promptly detect and issue early warnings to local authorities, forest owners and people to raise vigilance and proactively deploy appropriate measures for forest fire prevention and fighting.

Monitoring people entering and leaving the forest in Dien Phu commune, Dien Chau district. Photo: Quang An

Concentrate forces to strengthen forest patrols, forest inspections, and forest fire prevention and fighting at offices and forest gate checkpoints to check people entering and leaving the forest in order to promptly propagate and mobilize people not to use fire in the forest, causing fires to spread into the forest. Strictly prohibit all acts of burning fields, fields, and vegetation to prepare land for forest planting and reduce flammable materials in the forest in the area on days when there is a risk of forest fires at level 4 and level 5.

When a forest fire occurs, urgently mobilize forces to handle the situation, not letting the fire spread or become larger; after a forest fire, it is necessary to urgently investigate to clearly identify the cause and the person causing the fire and strictly handle the violating organizations and individuals, and at the same time have a plan to restore the forest./.