The East Java Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) is\ncontinuing to accelerate the handling of forest and land fires\n(karhutla) in the Mount Arjuno-Welirang area, Pasuruan Regency, after\nsurveys still found hotspots in the area.<\/p>\n
In addition to ground-based firefighting efforts carried out by the\njoint team from Tahura R. Soerjo and Manggala Agni, entering the seventh\nday on Tuesday (25\/8), BPBD East Java has also begun intensifying water\nbombing operations using the PK-DAP helicopter with a capacity of 1,000\nlitres.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn Tuesday at 12.00 WIB, water bombing operations had been carried\nout in 8 sorties, with 8,000 litres of water dropped,\u201d said Gatot\nSubroto, Chief Executive of BPBD East Java, in Surabaya on Tuesday\n(25\/8).<\/p>\n
Aerial firefighting was carried out following the continued presence\nof two hotspots located below the peak of Mount Arjuna, which are\ndifficult to reach by land.<\/p>\n
To confirm the location of the hotspots and accelerate extinguishing\nefforts, Gatot Soebroto even directly monitored the condition of the\nfire-affected area by helicopter.<\/p>\n
From aerial observation, several locations appeared to have been\nextinguished while two other points were still visibly burning with\nsmoke still billowing.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the 21st (Friday) the fire had actually subsided. But due to\nweather conditions, the fire reignited. It was from that point that we\nbegan carrying out water bombing. However, because the weather on Arjuno\nchanges easily, water bombing cannot always be carried out,\u201d said\nGatot.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, based on data from the BPBD East Java Operations Control\nCentre, as of Tuesday (25\/8), the area affected by forest and land fires\nin the Mount Arjuno-Welirang area has reached 146.85 hectares.<\/p>\n
He expressed hope that the water bombing operations carried out today\ncould be maximised, so that the fire-affected area in the\nArjuno-Welirang area could be extinguished soon.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Purnomo Probo Nugroho, Head of the Forest Resources and\nEcosystem Conservation Division at the East Java Forestry Service, who\nwas at the Kaliandra Forest Fire Command Post, added that for\nground-based handling, around 30 joint team personnel are continuing\nfirefighting efforts via the Sumber Brantas Batu and Tretes Pasuruan\nroutes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe vegetation that has burned is predominantly mountain pine. The\nremainder consists of alang-alang grass and shrubs,\u201d he said.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/east-java-bpbd-intensifies-water-bombing-as-hotspots-persist-on-mount-arjuno-1787655075", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }