Earlier, at 9:30 AM on August 14th, a forest fire broke out in plot 1, sub-area 147, Thuy Duong ward. Upon receiving the fire alarm from the Nui Vung fire watchtower belonging to Tien Phong Forestry Company Limited, the Huong Thuy Town Forest Protection Department immediately notified the Thuy Duong Ward People's Committee and the Thuy Duong Agricultural Cooperative to mobilize forces to participate in firefighting.
Local forces, equipment, and tools were mobilized to access the scene and extinguish the fire. Due to the steep terrain and thick, dry undergrowth beneath the forest canopy, maneuvering to reach the fire was very difficult. It took 5 hours (until 1 PM on the same day) for the fire to be completely extinguished.
According to Mr. Van Duc Thuan, Head of the Forest Protection Department of Huong Thuy Town, a total of nearly 400 people were mobilized to fight the fire, including officials and residents of Thuy Duong ward, the forest protection sector, armed forces, forest owners, and many fire trucks and water tankers.
Despite the timely intervention of relevant departments and forest owners, 1.44 hectares of forest were burned and damaged. The burned area mainly consisted of planted forests, including acacia plantations planted in 2021 and pine plantations planted in 1978 with protective functions, managed by Tien Phong Forestry Company Limited.
According to Mr. Thuan, the weather conditions at the time of the fire, with temperatures reaching 40 ° C, predicted a forest fire risk level of V (extremely dangerous). The cause of the fire remains undetermined as of August 15th. The Huong Thuy Town Forest Management Unit is continuing to cooperate with the police, forest owners, and the Thuy Duong Ward People's Committee to investigate and verify the cause.
According to Mr. Le Ngoc Tuan, Head of the Provincial Forest Protection Department, although units, localities, and coordinating forces have made many efforts in implementing comprehensive measures, overcoming difficulties and dangers, and working together to extinguish forest fires, there are still many limitations that need to be overcome in order to improve the effectiveness of forest fire prevention and control.
In just the last two weeks (up to August 15th), the province has experienced eight consecutive forest fires, a truly alarming number. The most recent were a forest fire in Thuy Duong on August 14th and a melaleuca forest fire in Quang Loi commune (Quang Dien district) a few days ago.
In recent fires, it was confirmed that a large number of firefighting forces were mobilized, but the guidance and access to the fires were not timely, resulting in some rescue teams not reaching the fires early. In addition, the lack of support from the watchtower personnel in commanding the firefighting efforts meant that the effectiveness of firefighting was not high. The causes of the forest fires are being investigated, but initial findings suggest that they were due to prolonged and intense hot weather, people burning votive paper and incense, and lighting fires near forests...
Recently, the forestry sector, along with relevant departments, held discussions on more effective forest fire prevention and control measures. Accordingly, to improve the effectiveness of forest fire prevention and control, the departments agreed on several groups of solutions. These solutions focus on enhancing the operational and command capacity of forest fire prevention and control. Upon detecting a fire, local forces and the public must be quickly mobilized to participate in firefighting; logistics and access routes for forest firefighting must be ensured to meet requirements.
The firefighting process requires timely, accurate, and effective information exchange and processing. Forest firefighting equipment and tools must be deployed and distributed promptly and to the correct locations where forest fires occur. Authorities must urgently investigate and verify the perpetrators to take deterrent measures and strictly punish them according to the law.
Local authorities and relevant departments need to allocate adequate and timely financial support for forces participating in forest fire fighting, in accordance with regulations. The public needs to raise awareness in implementing forest fire prevention and control measures, while forest rangers and forest protection forces need to regularly patrol and set up checkpoints to promptly prevent violations of forest fire prevention and control regulations...
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