Dien Chau coordinates synchronously in forest fire prevention and control

(Baonghean) - Compared to some other areas, the forest area and forest cover in Dien Chau are not large (accounting for about 20%), but because the forest area is mainly pine, eucalyptus and acacia, the risk of fire is very high; forest fire prevention and control (PCCR) in the locality always needs to be focused on.

Dien Phu Commune is one of the key fire prevention and control areas of Dien Chau District. According to Mr. Dinh Van Nho in Hamlet 9 - the person who contracted 12 hectares of pine forest, since December 2016, the commune has invited forest owners to thoroughly grasp the fire prevention and control plan; at the same time, it has organized households to sign commitments with the hamlet and the commune. Because the family's pine forest is more than 15 years old, along with building an exploitation design for the commune and the district Forest Protection Department to approve, since April 2017, the family has organized to clear the undergrowth and periodically go into the forest to check. Compared to last year, this year the people's fire prevention and control awareness has been better.

The district's interdisciplinary delegation inspected the actual fire prevention and control work in Dien Phu commune. Photo: Nguyen Hai

The entire Dien Phu commune has 2,317 hectares of forest, of which nearly 1,700 hectares are pine forests, accounting for nearly half of the district's pine forest area; in 2016, a forest fire damaged 3.7 hectares of forest, so Dien Phu is a key inspection and supervision focus of Dien Chau district. Learning from experience in 2016, this year the commune is more proactive and thorough. Along with building forces and on-site fire fighting plans suitable to the local situation; in the spirit of proactive prevention, the commune regularly propagates and reminds forest owners (households) about their responsibilities in fire prevention and control; when there is a fire risk alert of level III or higher, it is necessary to keep in touch with the commune's steering committee to have timely response and handling solutions.

Mr. Cao Nhu Nam - Vice Chairman of Dien Phu Commune People's Committee said: Like many other localities, in preventing and fighting forest fires in Dien Phu, prevention is the main focus, because the reality of the 2016 fire in Sub-area 898 in Hamlet 1, Dien Phu Commune showed that although the damaged forest area was only 3.7 hectares, of which about 2 hectares were pine trees, but because the forest area was at a higher altitude and the slope was steep, the ability to extinguish the fire was very limited. The fire broke out at 4:00 p.m. on June 13, the fire fighting forces of the commune and district arrived in time, but it was not until 9:00 a.m. the next day that the fire was extinguished.

One of the difficulties and limitations of forest fire prevention and control in Dien Chau compared to other districts is that the district does not have a Forest Protection Management Board, the forest area is mainly assigned to households for management, a small number is managed by the People's Committees of communes, so awareness of forest fire prevention and control work is still limited. The whole district has only 7 forest rangers in charge of 21 communes with forests, which is too thin. Pine forests are very flammable and when they burn, they spread very quickly, but forest owners have not really paid attention to and handled the ground cover. In addition, when a fire occurs, although the grassroots forest fire prevention and control steering committee is present in time, the ability to operate and command is still confused, mobilizing forces to coordinate is difficult; means and equipment are lacking and not yet proficient in operation, the logistics force serving forest fire prevention and control is still limited...

Commune forestry officers clear and cut the pine forest cover in Dien Phu. Photo: Nguyen Hai

In order to coordinate synchronously in forest fire prevention and control, right from the beginning of 2017, based on the directives of the superiors, Dien Chau district has synchronously deployed measures to effectively implement forest fire prevention and control. After establishing and perfecting the Steering Committee for forest protection and forest fire prevention and control in the district and 9 key forest communes, the district has directed the communes to urgently develop forest fire prevention and control plans to submit to the District Steering Committee for approval; at the same time, the District Forest Protection and Forest Fire Prevention and Control Steering Committee also has its own overall plan. Based on the tasks and objectives that have been set out, the district has assigned the District Radio and Television Station to develop propaganda content on forest protection and forest fire prevention and control, print and distribute CDs to the communes; when there is a forecast of level III or higher fires, the commune and hamlet loudspeaker system broadcasts 3 times/day, each time for 10-15 minutes so that people in forested areas are informed; The commune forest protection steering committee coordinates with primary, secondary and high schools to propagate fire prevention and fighting periodically at the beginning and end of the week for students; periodically inspects and maintains fire fighting equipment; organizes training on fire prevention and fighting skills, command and use of forest fire fighting equipment for the steering committees from district to commune levels.

Along with propaganda, the Steering Committee for Protection and Fire Prevention and Control of the district and communes also strengthened the forces participating in fire fighting by strengthening the strong Fire Prevention and Control Platoon in 9 communes with 233 members; signing a commitment between the Chairman of the People's Committee of 9 communes with forests and the Chairman of the District People's Committee; between 76 hamlet chiefs and the Chairman of the Commune People's Committee; between 679 forest owners, households and 76 hamlet chiefs; signing labor contracts to guard forest fires and fire prevention in 6 key communes with forests prone to fires: Dien Phu, Dien An, Dien Loi, Dien Thang, Dien Doai and Dien Lam; directing the communes of Dien An, Dien Thang, Dien Doai to mobilize the Youth Union of hamlet branches to clear over 5 km of runways; maintaining 8 km of white fire-blocking runways; installing additional forest fire warning signs in some key forests...

Mr. Le Minh Nguyen - Head of the Forest Protection Department and Chief of Office of the Steering Committee for Forest Protection and Fire Prevention in Dien Chau district said: Since the beginning of June 2017, in response to the developments of the two heat waves, based on the directives of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Provincial Forest Protection Department, the People's Committee of Dien Chau district has established an interdisciplinary team to inspect and urge forest fire prevention and control in key communes. Along with ensuring a 24/7 duty schedule during the peak months of forest fire prevention and control, the district is currently inspecting forest fire prevention and control in key forest communes from June 25 to July 6. Through inspection, the district will promptly correct any limitations and shortcomings. In 2017, the district invested 153 million VND to purchase 10 more blowers, 7 chainsaws, hundreds of knives, rakes and over 200 fire extinguishers for the communes; on average, each commune has 1-2 chainsaws and blowers and when necessary, the communes will be mobilized to provide additional support.

Nguyen Hai