Forest firefighting with water bombers bears fruit<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): With assistance from an international
\ncontingent, signs began to emerge yesterday that firefighters
\nwere gaining an upper hand in the fight against the raging brush
\nand forest fires.<\/p>\n
Two Australian water bombers dropped at least 57,000 liters of
\nfire suppressant foam on several hot spots yesterday to
\nextinguish brush and forest fires in Central Lampung.<\/p>\n
\"Water bombing has had an immediate impact and has stopped the
\nfires spreading further into plantations and toward local
\nvillages,\" said Andrew Lawson, the commander of the bomber team.<\/p>\n
In its first day of operations on Wednesday, the 15-man
\nAustralian fire fighting team dropped 44,000 liters of foam.<\/p>\n
But according to Antara, poor coordination between the team
\nand local authorities lessened the effectiveness of the
\noperation.<\/p>\n
Local authorities were unable to provide accurate data on the
\nhot spots and the pilots were forced to find the locations on
\ntheir own.<\/p>\n
\"Until now we have not received any satellite data on the hot
\nspots,\" explained Irham Jafar, the head of Lampung's fire
\nfighting team.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, in Padang, West Sumatra rain brought slight relief
\nbut it was still not enough to clear the haze.<\/p>\n
\"The visibility level is still between 1,800 and 2,000
\nmeters,\" local meteorology and geophysics officials said.<\/p>\n
In Pekanbaru, Riau, more than 1,000 Malaysian volunteers are
\nready to return home after fighting fires in Indonesia for two
\nweeks.<\/p>\n
Malaysia's consul in Pekanbaru, Zulkifli Yaacob, said the
\ntarget assigned to them had been achieved.<\/p>\n
\"They are now still at their individual posts because they
\nhaven't yet received permission from either the Malaysian or
\nIndonesian government to leave Sumatra,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Relief operations in Jambi continued yesterday as the
\nIndonesian Red Cross handed over 40,000 masks, 400 grams of honey
\nand 300 boxes of medicine to the provincial administration.<\/p>\n
The province has been one of the hardest hit by severe haze as
\na result of the widespread fires.<\/p>\n
The improving situation on the ground has also reportedly
\nprompted Jakarta to decline a further outpouring of assistance.<\/p>\n
Britain has scrapped its plan to send two reconnaissance
\naircraft to help pinpoint the fires, defense officials said
\nWednesday.<\/p>\n
\"Indonesia has told us they have made substantial progress in
\nfighting the fires and that therefore our offer was deemed to be
\nno longer necessary,\" a ministry of defense spokesman was quoted
\nas saying by Reuters.<\/p>\n
Britain had fitted two Canberra PR9 planes with special
\ninfrared equipment that can \"see\" through cloud and smoke. The
\nplanes will now remain in Britain.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the haze that has persisted in neighboring
\nSingapore and Malaysia has not only affected people but also
\ntheir pets.<\/p>\n
Singapore's Tiong Bahru Road, famous for its birds, has been
\ndubiously quiet. The usual chirping of birds can no longer be
\nheard.<\/p>\n
\"My three birds have been very lethargic and they just sit
\nthere now and don't make a sound,\" DPA quoted bird-lover Chew
\nTeng San as saying.<\/p>\n
Pet owners in smog-shrouded Singapore and Kuala Lumpur,
\nMalaysia, have reported that their dogs and cats are sneezing and
\nsuffering from abnormal eye and nose discharges because of the
\nair pollution. (prb)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/forest-firefighting-with-water-bombers-bears-fruit-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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