BNPB: Helicopters fly for 15 hours to seed artificial rain in Jambi

The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) has maximised the use of helicopters to extinguish fires in the Jambi Province, completing 15 hours and 32 minutes of flight time to seed 8,000 kilograms of Sodium Chloride (NaCl).

Speaking in Jakarta on Friday, the Acting Head of the BNPB Disaster Data, Information, and Communication Centre, Berton SP Panjaitan, stated that the Weather Modification Operation (OMC) was carried out intensively across eight sorties between 26 August and 2 September 2026.

“The weather modification operation in Jambi has been conducted over eight sorties, with a total flight time of 15 hours and 32 minutes using 8,000 kilograms of NaCl,” he said.

He explained that aerial water spraying and salt seeding are efforts to address land fires, given that the accumulated area of burnt land in Jambi had reached 1,879.31 hectares as of Thursday (3/9), the majority of which affects peatlands that are difficult to access.

However, Berton noted that field officers are facing several challenges, including the scarcity of potential clouds in Jambi, which limits the success of the weather modification operation in generating rain.

“Weather conditions are one of the challenges in supporting efforts to handle forest and land fires. Based on monitoring results from BMKG, no cloud growth is expected until 10 September 2026,” he added.

Consequently, the Jambi ground firefighting task force has been instructed to continue their work, including water spraying, field patrols, and creating firebreaks to accelerate the handling of forest and land fires in the region.