Nghe An strengthens forest fire prevention solutions

Pine forest fire risk

At the tomb of Mrs. Hoang Thi Loan - Uncle Ho's mother, in Nam Giang commune (Nam Dan), currently, staff of Nam Dan Forest Protection Department are taking turns to be on duty 24/7 at the forest fire watchtower, patrolling and preventing people and vehicles from entering the forest is being carried out seriously and strictly.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Duong - an officer of Nam Dan Forest Protection Department, said: The Nam Giang fire watchtower is over 10 meters high, and can observe forest fires for the entire Nam Giang area of ​​Nam Dan district and part of the forest area of ​​Hung Nguyen and Thanh Chuong districts. Thanks to good forest fire watchtower, some small fires were detected early so that local forces could put them out in time.

Checking fire prevention and control work in Nam Giang commune (Nam Dan). Photo: Van Truong

At the Nam Hung fire watchtower (Nam Dan), forest rangers are also staying on guard for forest fires during the hot season. This fire watchtower was built in 2016, is over 10 meters high, and can observe forest fires for over 780 hectares of pine forest and the border points between a part of Nam Dan district and Do Luong and Thanh Chuong districts.

Through the watchtower, some small fires were detected and promptly deployed to extinguish them to prevent them from spreading. Since the beginning of the year, the Board has coordinated with local households to burn 600 hectares of vegetation, clear 400 hectares of vegetation, and repair 38.24 km of firebreaks in the communes of Nam Nghia, Nam Hung, Nam Giang, and Nam Linh.

Forest fire watchtower in Nam Hung commune (Nam Dan). Photo: Document

The current difficulty is that many localities have pine forests but the vegetation has not been treated. For example, in Dien Chau district, there are currently nearly 6,000 hectares of pine forests assigned to the commune and the community for management, so there are many difficulties in forest fire prevention and fighting.

Every year, only 400ha/6,000ha of vegetation is treated, the remaining area has not been treated, the risk of forest fires often occurs in Dien Doai, Dien An, Dien Phu communes. Yen Thanh district has nearly 3,000 hectares of pine forest, at the beginning of the hot season, the district's protective forest management board has treated over 500 hectares, the communes have treated about 500 hectares, the remaining nearly 1,000 hectares of pine forest managed by the communes have not been treated, concentrated in 3 communes Cong Thanh, My Thanh, Bao Thanh.

Many other districts are also in the same situation, such as Nam Dan district has only treated 1,000/6,000 hectares, Do Luong district has treated 1,000/6,500 hectares.

According to the report of the Forest Protection Department, up to now, the whole province has treated the vegetation to prevent and fight forest fires on over 7,500/16,000 hectares of forest. 12.5 km of firebreaks have been renewed and 201 km of firebreaks have been repaired. However, the current difficulty in fire prevention and control work is that many fire watchtowers are in disrepair.

Regarding firebreaks in the border areas between Nam Dan district and Ha Tinh province, since 2017, the People's Committee of Nghe An province has had a policy to build them, but they have not been implemented yet. The cost of treating the ground cover is expensive, while the source of pine resin exploitation is limited, so most of the pine forest area managed by the commune has not been treated.

Enhance the solution

Mr. Bach Quoc Dung - Head of Nghe An Forest Protection Sub-Department said: To cope with the complicated situation of drought and heat, the Sub-Department has advised the Provincial People's Committee to issue Directive No. 05/CT-UBND dated February 10, 2020 to direct relevant departments, units, People's Committees of districts, cities and towns to strengthen measures to prevent and fight forest fires in the province.

Directing the People's Committees of districts and towns to develop 21/21 forest fire prevention and fighting plans and develop plans to mobilize forces, means and tools to fight forest fires when fires occur in the area. Appraising and submitting to higher authorities for approval 30 plans for forest owners who are organizations; 371 commune-level forest fire prevention and fighting plans.

Checking fire extinguishing equipment at Thanh Chuong Forest Ranger Station. Photo: Van Truong

Before the hot season, the Forest Protection Department also directed forestry units to prepare, repair, and test-operate machinery and equipment to be ready for forest fire fighting. To purchase additional fire-fighting equipment and tools, the province has so far purchased 18 water pumps, 84 blowers, 39 brush cutters, 53 chainsaws, nearly 4,000 knives, and more than 1,500 fire extinguishers...

Using high-powered blowers to clean firebreaks in pine forests. Photo courtesy of Huy Thu

And the standing agency of the Provincial Command on forest fire prevention and fighting, the Forestry Department has proposed urgent solutions for forest fire prevention and fighting with key tasks.

To effectively prevent and fight forest fires in the coming time, the Forest Protection Department requires forest rangers and forest owners to strengthen the work of forest fire warning information right at the grassroots level. When there is information about a forest fire, forest owners and forest rangers must quickly report to the District and Commune Steering Committees to mobilize forces to fight the forest fire. At the same time, they must be present at the scene to advise on the total force to fight the forest fire. When extinguishing a forest fire, the forest rangers advise the District and Commune Steering Committees to arrange forces to guard, watch the forest fire and extinguish all embers to avoid re-ignition. At the same time, they advise the District Steering Committee to direct functional agencies to coordinate in investigating, collecting evidence, searching for and denouncing the perpetrators of the forest fire, to strictly handle violators in order to educate, prevent and deter in general.

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