Water bombing: A novel mission to save Kutai National Park<\/p>\n
By Anton Sudarisman<\/p>\n
SANGATTA, East Kalimantan (JP): While the rains bring floods
\nto some cities across the country, devastating fires are raging
\nin Kutai National Park, East Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
So far, the fires have destroyed more than 45,000 hectares of
\nprimary forests -- a quarter of the whole national park --
\nleaving thousands of animals, many of them endangered, including
\nthe fabulous orangutan and hornbills, homeless, said Warsito,
\nhead of the park.<\/p>\n
\"Many animals are trapped in small areas with no food
\nsupplies. In a few weeks, many of them will die from starvation,\"
\nsaid Baharuddin, one of 72 forest rangers currently working in
\nthe 200,000-hectare park.<\/p>\n
It has been very difficult to control the fires, particularly
\nbecause of the sporadic nature of fire spots.<\/p>\n
\"We have been working 24 hours a day with hundreds of
\npotential localities to watch,\" said Suroso, another forest
\nranger. \"Most of them are in the southern and eastern parts of
\npark.\"<\/p>\n
Besides the park team, there other parties working hard
\nfighting the fires. In Balikpapan, several groups of volunteers
\nmade up of civilians and military personnel have put great
\nefforts into controlling the spread of fires.<\/p>\n
A team was set up by the then secretary of development
\noperations, Lt. Gen. A.M. Hendro Priyono, who is now minister of
\ntransmigration, to help put out the fires using water bombing.<\/p>\n
This team consisted of three pilots, two mechanics, and
\nseveral other crew members who prepared a water-chemical mixture
\nfor the bombing missions. A single-engined combat aircraft, the
\nPilatus-Porter, was used.<\/p>\n
The team began the bombing on Sunday, March 15, using Tanjung
\nBara Airport as its base. PT Kaltim Prima Coal, owner of the
\nairport, provided necessary facilities, such as the fuel and the
\ncrew's accommodation.<\/p>\n
The aim of the water bombing was to extinguish fires and
\nprevent them from spreading.<\/p>\n
\"We have to complete eight bombing missions each day,
\ntargeting fires across Kutai National Park,\" explained Lt. Col.
\nAndri Iskandri, who led the bombing mission.<\/p>\n
In each mission, one ton of water mixed with AF-31, a special
\nchemical produced by Hartindo, was dropped on each fire spot.<\/p>\n
\"We have to fly as low as three to five meters above the
\ntrees,\" said Andri.<\/p>\n
Disappointing<\/p>\n
On each drop, the chemical-water mix could effectively cover
\nan area 100 meters long and eight meters wide. While also
\nextinguishing the fires, the mixture formed a fire-resistant
\nlayer on trees as well as the ground, which then functioned as a
\nfirebreak.<\/p>\n
\"We need to make such firebreaks when we find the fire is too
\nbig for direct bombing so that we can stop the fire's progress,\"
\nadded Lt. Rumpoko, one of the three pilots.<\/p>\n
As in other combat missions, the bombing itself was tough and
\nrequired a high degree of accuracy. To make the bombing
\neffective, before each flight the team gathered data from
\nprevious surveys to locate potential fire spots, which
\nunfortunately changed from time to time.<\/p>\n
\"It's disappointing to see the fires flaring up in several
\ndifferent areas at the same time. When we have dozens of
\npotential targets, we usually take the biggest ones,\" said Lt.
\nGloria, another pilot, who had been on a similar mission in
\nLampung in southern Sumatra, last year.<\/p>\n
Another challenge for the team was the thick haze hanging over
\nEast Kalimantan. In some parts of the park, haze hindered flight
\nvisibility sometimes down to only a few meters, forcing the team
\nto cancel several bombing missions.<\/p>\n
Up to the last day of the bombing missions on Monday, March
\n23, the bombing seemed to have been a big success. The team
\ncompleted 63 sorties, consuming more than 15 tons of AF-31. They
\nsucceeded in extinguishing the fires at several targets and also
\nsuccessfully prevented some big fires from spreading further.<\/p>\n
\"Pak Warsito from Kutai National Park confirmed these
\nsuccessful missions. He personally observed where fires stop
\nburning and spreading,\" Andri said proudly.<\/p>\n
But he realized that more time and greater efforts were need
\nbecause more fires had started to blaze.<\/p>\n
\"I have heard more fires have started flaring. We need at
\nleast another three weeks to clear some critical areas of fire,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
But he was called for his next duty. The crew left East
\nKalimantan for another mission in Riau, Sumatra on Wednesday,
\nMarch 25.<\/p>\n
Andri is right. Despite his team's tireless efforts, new fires
\nare still being igniting across the park. The latest information
\nsaid that a big fire has started damaging some areas in Mentoko,
\nan orangutan research center run by Suzuki Akira of the
\nUniversity of Tokyo. Hundreds of orangutans being researched are
\nnow in danger, waiting for rescue efforts.<\/p>\n
Another report mentioned that flames have crossed the road
\nbetween Bontang and Sangatta, moving deeper into the park.<\/p>\n
The whole world is watching as thousands of hectares of our
\nreserved forests vanish in flames, with the screams of endangered
\nanimals being trapped and kill. Ending the plight requires more
\neffort from the government, companies operating in East
\nKalimantan and people like Lt. Col. Andri, Lt. Rumpoko and Lt.
\nGloria.<\/p>\n
The writer is an employee of PT Kaltim Prima Coal, who
\nrecently joined the water-bombing mission.<\/p>",
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