Air Task Force Handles 667 Hectares of Burnt Land in South Kalimantan

The Air Task Force operations, utilising water bombing helicopters from the National Disaster Management Agency (BNNP), have successfully managed the extinguishing of 667.50 hectares of burnt land in South Kalimantan.

“This handled area is part of a total 1,691.50 hectares affected by forest and land fires,” said the Head of the South Kalimantan Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), Ronny Eka Saputra, in Banjarland on Friday.

He noted that based on the total burnt area, 60.54 per cent remains unhandled, while only 39.46 per cent has been successfully extinguished via water bombing.

Ronny revealed that the current air support consists of four water bombing helicopter units, which are conducting firefighting operations on priority scales and in areas difficult to reach by ground task forces.

This includes the Ring 1 area of Syamsudin Noor International Airport in Banjarbaru, where numerous hotspots have emerged. In this location, water bombing helicopters are operated daily alongside ground officers to carry out firefighting efforts.

“Naturally, the area around the airport is a priority so that haze caused by forest and land fires does not interfere with flights,” he explained.

Aerial patrols are also being conducted by one Bell 206 helicopter unit and one Cessna Caravan C208 aircraft.

“This Cessna aircraft is also on standby for weather modification operations, as the BMKG predicts a significant growth of rain cloud seeds over the coming week,” he added.