Forest fire drills are being conducted in Yok Don National Park.

Forest fire drills are conducted simulating three scenarios: small fires, medium fires, and large fires, corresponding to the situation, characteristics, and different requirements of forest firefighting; each fire level will have a corresponding firefighting plan. In particular, in the case of a large fire, manual firefighting combined with mechanized firefighting will be used, involving the mobilization of large firefighting machinery and equipment.

According to the simulated scenario, when a forest fire occurs, the forest management unit and local forces, including residents living near the forest, totaling nearly 300 people, quickly mobilize to the fire site with various equipment such as: fire pumps, mobile water tanks, shoulder-mounted blowers, ambulances, gas masks, fire trucks, etc., to participate in extinguishing the forest fire.

Firefighting drill crews from Yok Don National Park participate in extinguishing the fire.

According to Mr. Phan Thanh Hoa, Deputy Head of the Forest Protection Department of Yok Don National Park, Yok Don National Park covers an area of over 115,500 hectares (in Dak Lak and Lam Dong provinces) and is home to the largest deciduous forest ecosystem in Vietnam (shedding leaves during the dry season, from approximately December to June of the following year). Here, the flora and fauna are rich and diverse, with a very thick layer of undergrowth and combustible materials.

During the harsh, hot weather of the dry season, the risk of forest fires is very high, always at dangerous and extremely dangerous levels. Therefore, organizing drills with various simulated scenarios and the participation of a large number of local forces such as forest rangers, fire police, local authorities, and community forest protection task forces... not only contributes to raising awareness of forest protection but also trains the skills of these forces and enables them to proactively handle any forest fire situation that may occur in reality.

Yok Don National Park covers an area of 115,545 hectares and is the national park with the largest dry dipterocarp forest ecosystem in the country.

According to Mr. Hoa, the forest fire drill aims to evaluate the leadership and management; prepare personnel, machinery, and equipment; and ensure logistics according to the "four on-the-spot" principle in forest fire prevention and control. At the same time, it aims to raise awareness and responsibility for forest fire prevention and control among all officials, staff, and local authorities and residents in the bordering communes; and to help forces master the procedures and skillfully use tools, machinery, and equipment for forest fire fighting when a fire occurs. The drill will also provide a basis for reviewing and adjusting forest fire prevention and control plans to better suit the actual situation and be more effective in the future.

In recent years, Yok Don National Park has been implementing an elephant-friendly tourism model. Accordingly, domesticated elephants are released into the forest to roam freely and forage, while tourists can observe the elephants and learn about their natural behaviors.

According to statistics, Dak Lak province currently has over 780,700 hectares of forest. Of this, nearly 537,300 hectares are natural forest; over 210,300 hectares are mature planted forest; and nearly 33,000 hectares are newly planted forest. The forest cover rate is over 41%. To protect forests during the dry season, the People's Committee of Dak Lak province requires forest owners, local authorities, and relevant forces to be proactive and not complacent in forest fire prevention and control, especially in the western localities of the province which are entering the 2025-2026 dry season.

Source: https://baodaklak.vn/thoi-su/202512/dien-tap-chua-chay-rung-o-vuon-quoc-gia-yok-don-ac913c3/