East Java BPBD Intensifies Water Bombing as Hotspots Persist on Mount Arjuno
The East Java Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) is continuing to accelerate the handling of forest and land fires (karhutla) in the Mount Arjuno-Welirang area, Pasuruan Regency, after surveys still found hotspots in the area.
In addition to ground-based firefighting efforts carried out by the joint team from Tahura R. Soerjo and Manggala Agni, entering the seventh day on Tuesday (25/8), BPBD East Java has also begun intensifying water bombing operations using the PK-DAP helicopter with a capacity of 1,000 litres.
“On Tuesday at 12.00 WIB, water bombing operations had been carried out in 8 sorties, with 8,000 litres of water dropped,” said Gatot Subroto, Chief Executive of BPBD East Java, in Surabaya on Tuesday (25/8).
Aerial firefighting was carried out following the continued presence of two hotspots located below the peak of Mount Arjuna, which are difficult to reach by land.
To confirm the location of the hotspots and accelerate extinguishing efforts, Gatot Soebroto even directly monitored the condition of the fire-affected area by helicopter.
From aerial observation, several locations appeared to have been extinguished while two other points were still visibly burning with smoke still billowing.
“On the 21st (Friday) the fire had actually subsided. But due to weather conditions, the fire reignited. It was from that point that we began carrying out water bombing. However, because the weather on Arjuno changes easily, water bombing cannot always be carried out,” said Gatot.
Meanwhile, based on data from the BPBD East Java Operations Control Centre, as of Tuesday (25/8), the area affected by forest and land fires in the Mount Arjuno-Welirang area has reached 146.85 hectares.
He expressed hope that the water bombing operations carried out today could be maximised, so that the fire-affected area in the Arjuno-Welirang area could be extinguished soon.
Meanwhile, Purnomo Probo Nugroho, Head of the Forest Resources and Ecosystem Conservation Division at the East Java Forestry Service, who was at the Kaliandra Forest Fire Command Post, added that for ground-based handling, around 30 joint team personnel are continuing firefighting efforts via the Sumber Brantas Batu and Tretes Pasuruan routes.
“The vegetation that has burned is predominantly mountain pine. The remainder consists of alang-alang grass and shrubs,” he said.