Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has extended his condolences to families of seven victims killed in two fires in Hanoi and the northern province of Bac Giang on June 16, while requesting extra efforts to find out causes and promptly handle consequences.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chaired a national teleconference on September 12 to look into fire prevention and control and the five-year implementation of a Government decree on rescue and the firefighting force.

Authorities in the southern province of Binh Phuoc are tightening measures to prevent forest fires in the dry season as prolonged heat has occurred since the beginning of the year.

In the first nine months of 2019, there were 200 casualties caused by fires and explosions in Vietnam.

Over 150,000 hectares of forests in the south central coastal province of Binh Thuan are now on high alert for fires as it is in the peak of the dry season, according to the provincial Forestry Management Department on February 27.

Indonesian Minister of Forestry and Environment Siti Nurbaya has announced the country has been placed under emergency state due to forecasts on blazes and impacts of smoke from forest and land fires.

In the first three months of this year, 121 fires occurred in Ho Chi Minh City, injuring nine people.

The number of forest fires in Indonesia has increased remarkably over the last week, mainly on Sumatra islands.

More than 200 people took part in an exercise to deal with oil spill and fires on Dong Nai River, the southern province of Dong Nai, on December 31.