Nghe An: Many forest fire watchtowers are seriously degraded.

The fire watchtower in Van Yen hamlet, Hoa Son commune, Do Luong district is seriously degraded. Photo: Van Truong.

Follow the pine hill in Van Yen hamlet, Hoa Son commune, districtDo LuongWe went to the central fire watchtower of Van Yen hamlet managed by (Do Luong Forestry One Member Co., Ltd). This fire watchtower is over 10 meters high, with the important task of monitoring forest fires for a large pine forest area including Hoa Son, Bai Son, Thinh Son, Giang Son Dong communes and a part of Yen Thanh district. Thanks to this watchtower, many forest fires have been detected and extinguished over the years.

However, because the watchtower was built a long time ago (in 2000), over time the watchtower has seriously deteriorated, the iron stairs are rusted, the wooden floor is rotten, some wooden bars are broken, and the roof has collapsed. A worker on duty at the watchtower in Van Yen hamlet shared: During the hot season, climbing up to the watchtower to watch the forest fire is very dangerous, accidents can happen at any time.

The wooden floor on the fire watchtower in Van Yen hamlet, Hoa Son commune, Do Luong district is rotten. Photo: Van Truong

Mr. Phan Hong Tien - Director of Do Luong Forestry Company Limited - said: In recent years, we have spent money to renovate and upgrade the fire watchtower, however, due to the severe degradation of the watchtower, the renovation has not been effective. Currently, the unit has 2 other degraded and damaged forest fire watchtowers, including the fire watchtowers in My Son and Bai Son communes.

Also in the same situation, the fire watchtower of Nam Giang commune, Nam Dan district is degraded, damaged and unusable. A representative of Nam Dan Forest Protection Department, Hung Nguyen added: The fire watchtower of Nam Giang commune (Nam Dan) is over 12 meters high, and is arranged for 3 forces to guard 24/7 during the hot season, including the Mobile Forest Protection Team and Forest Fire Prevention and Fighting Team No. 1, Nam Dan Forest Protection Department, Hung Nguyen, and Nam Dan Special Use Forest Management Board.

The fire watchtower in Nam Giang commune, Nam Dan district is degraded and damaged and cannot be used. Now, it has to rent a livestock farm and use a water tank as a fire watchtower. Photo: Van Truong

The Nam Giang Commune Fire Watchtower is responsible for monitoring fires in special-use pine forests associated with many important historical sites such as the tomb of Mrs. Hoang Thi Loan; the tomb of King Mai Hac De and adjacent to districts where forest fires often occur such as Thanh Chuong, Do Luong, Hung Nguyen and Huong Son (Ha Tinh).

For a long time nowfire watchtowerNam Giang is degraded, especially the pine trees that block the view. Therefore, since 2021, the above units have had to rent a nearby livestock farm with a water tower over 14 meters high to make a "watchtower" to observe forest fires. However, there are also shortcomings at this watchtower, which is far from the forest protection management station and does not ensure safety.

Nam Dan Forest Protection Department, Hung Nguyen has proposed to the Forest Protection Sub-Department to soon have a plan to support capital and rebuild the watchtower in a new, more convenient location for forest fire monitoring.

Fire watchtower on the water tower. Photo: Van Truong

Over the years, the fire watchtower in hamlet 11, Xuan Thanh commune (Yen Thanh) has been severely damaged. Observation of this watchtower shows that the concrete is cracked, exposing the steel sections inside. The roof above the watchtower has collapsed, so no one dares to climb up to observe.

A representative of the Yen Thanh Protective Forest Management Board added: Yen Thanh district currently has 3 watchtowers, of which 2 are damaged and unusable, including the watchtower in hamlet 11, Xuan Thanh commune and the watchtower in Tay Tien hamlet, Tien Thanh commune. These watchtowers were all built in the 1990s.

Because they cannot observe from the fire watchtower, the forest rangers have to patrol daily and coordinate with the people to detect forest fires. In the long term, there needs to be a solution to build watchtowers to ensure forest fire prevention and fighting.

The roof of the fire watchtower in hamlet 11, Xuan Thanh commune (Yen Thanh) has collapsed. Photo: Van Truong

According to the report of the Forest Protection Department, Nghe An currently has over 16,000 hectares of pine forests. Before the fire season, forest owners had maintained and repaired over 20 fire watchtowers. However, the most difficult problem is that there are nearly 10 fire watchtowers that are seriously degraded and need to be rebuilt, concentrated in the districts of Nam Dan, Yen Thanh, Do Luong, Quynh Luu...

Due to funding difficulties, it is not possible to build new fire watchtowers. In the long term, the Forest Protection Department is mobilizing forest owners to balance funding to build new watchtowers. In particular, to improve efficiency, the Forest Protection Department has directed the installation of early warning systems for forest fires using cameras at forest fire watchtowers, bringing high efficiency in forest fire monitoring.