REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, PEKANBARU -- The Terra and Aqua Satellites detected 18 hotspots in Riau Province at 5 a.m. local time, Monday, according to the Pekanbaru meteorology office.
Of the 18 hotspots, five were found in Bengkalis, four respectively in Meranti and Pelalawan, three in Rokan Hilir, and one each in Dumai and Siak, Sugarin, the office's head, stated.
Twelve out of the 18 hotspots were confirmed to have arisen from forest and plantation fires, with a confidence level of over 70 percent, he noted.
The wildfires produced thin haze that slightly reduced the visibility in the affected areas, he revealed.
The National Disaster Mitigation Agency has sent an MI-8 helicopter to help put out the fires.
Edward Sanger, head of the Riau disaster mitigation office, hoped that the Russian-made helicopter would help optimize the efforts to extinguish the fires.
The helicopter, piloted by a Russian, will be deployed in Riau until June 2016.
In March 2016, another MI-8 helicopter had arrived to help put out the forest fires in Riau's coastal areas.
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