Nation on red alert for wildfires in dry season
By Phi Tuan - The Saigon Times Daily
HCMC - Forests in 12 provinces nationwide are put on red alert for fires by the dry weather, announced the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Forest Protection Department.
Forests in the provinces of An Giang, Binh Phuoc, Cao Bang, Lang Son, Dong Nai, Gia Lai, Hoa Binh, Kien Giang, Son La, Lam Dong, Kon Tum and Ca Mau are on fifth grade alert, the highest level for potential wildfire. 
Figures from the General Statistics Office show that this year 1,210 hectares of forest has already been burned, a rate 7.2% higher than the same period last year. In February, two fires destroyed over 1,000 hectares in Lao Cai and Lai Chau provinces.
On Monday, the Ministry asked local forces to fight to prevent forest fires saying the dry climate was turning trees into flammable material.
An official from the Forest Protection Department told the Daily on Wednesday that fires were scattered in some areas of the northern provinces of Son La, Lang Son and Ha Giang, but most of them were under control with no severe damages.
Dang Hung Chuong, deputy head of the local Cao Bang Province Forest Protection Department, said that last week four fires destroyed an area of 140 hectares and that the situation in the coming days was “very serious”.
Chuong said minority ethnic people had the custom of burning forest for land, the main reason fires spread to surrounding areas. “We are ready to fight but need support from the army and other forces,” Chuong said.
An Giang, one of the 12 provinces on red alert, still has 12,000 hectares of forest that are safe, according to Nguyen Van Thanh, director of the Agriculture and Rural Development Department.
Le Van Hai, head of Ca Mau’s Forest Protection Department, said local civil and military forces were on alert to limit the damage.