By Phi Tuan - The Saigon Times Daily
HCMC – The number of provinces in danger of wildfires in the country has since last week doubled to 22 as scorching heat has shown no signs of abating, according to the Forest Protection Department.
Satellite images last night showed there were 17 sites vulnerable to wildfires, with most of them in the Central Highlands and the northern upland. 
Fires that erupted in Ta Nung in the northern mountainous province of Son La on March 2 were put under control on Monday morning thanks to the participation of more than 1,000 people in the blaze fighting effort. Statistics about damages remain unknown, said local authorities.
“We have controlled most of the wildfires, but damages are being assessed,” said Do Thanh Hai, who is in charge of forest management and protection at the Forest Protection Department.
Hai told the Daily that at the moment Tan Uyen and Muong Te of Lai Chau Provinces were still struggling to put out wildfires, albeit small. Nguyen Huu Ai,
head of Son La’s Forest Protection Department, said on Monday that the woods in Tan Uyen were difficult to access.
“The location of the wildfire is more than 2,000 meters above sea level. We’ve found it hard to get there. We have sent some men there to assess the situation before a plan is drawn up to fight the fire,” Ai said.
Experts said that since February it had been hotter than ever, making it difficult to protect forests from fires. In the first 10 days of February, temperatures have risen sharply and it had been dryer than in previous years, followed by 10 days of cold weather in the north. Later it turned hot, exposing forests to fires due to low humidity and no rain.
Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai chaired a meeting last week of the National Board of Forest Protection, and ordered local authorities to care more about forest protection.
The situation is forecasted to get worse in days to come despite the ongoing cold spell moving towards the north.