Forest Fires Raging – Suplied
Manokwari, Jubi – The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics station (BMKG) in Sorong city, West Papua, said satellite images showed 51 forest fire locations there .
“The largest forest fires caused heavy smog to spread to Inanwatan, South Sorong Regency,” the head of BMKG Jefman Station, Frans Rahawarin stated in Sorong on Tuesday (20/10/2015).
He added, there are also seven largest forest fires in Fakfak which resulted airport to be closed down temporarily due to smog.
He further said these hot spots will continue to spread if not addressed immediately.
Therefore, he hoped the local authorities coordinate with BMKG to show the hot spots so they can be extinguished.
He also urged people to not do the burning of land and forests, to reduce forest fires that can affect air pollution that will harm public health.
He said the forest fires in South Sorong Regency and Fakfak lead to smog blanketed the town of Sorong and surrounding areas so that visibility is decreased.
“The haze from forest fires will continue to increase and if not addressed then the next week predicted that the activity in Sorong city will be paralyzed as a result of the smog,” he said.
He added, the haze can be resolved in two ways, first is to extinguish forest fire points by humans and the second is precipitation, but rainfall is predicted to occur in November. (*)
