Police Prepare Helicopters and Drones to Tackle Forest and Land Fires
The Indonesian National Police have prepared a range of equipment to extinguish forest and land fires (karhutla). The equipment includes helicopters for water bombing operations and specially modified motorcycles to reach difficult areas.
“We from the National Police have placed two helicopter units on standby that can be used for water bombing. The Chief of Police has also instructed that areas that are difficult to reach should be addressed through modifications. This is an example of a modification to a two-wheeled vehicle that was originally intended for Bhabinkamtibmas officers,” explained Brigadier General Auliansyah Lubis, Karobinops Stamaops Polri, during a press conference at National Police Headquarters in South Jakarta on Sunday (23/8/2026).
Regarding the modified motorcycles, Auliansyah said the modification was a direct instruction from National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo so that officers could reach locations that are difficult to access.
“This does not exist from the factory, so it is the result of modification. This is a direct order from the Chief of Police: ‘try to modify the vehicles we have so they can reach areas that are difficult to access’. This is very useful for our colleagues in the field to extinguish fires directly at the centre of the fire points,” he said.
Auliansyah explained that his team has also placed heat-resistant suits and fire-fighting drones on standby. “We have also prepared breathing apparatus, heat-resistant suits, and tactical SAR Karhutla vehicles with a capacity of 2,500 litres of water and 250 litres of foam,” said Auliansyah.
“We also have a modified fire suppression drone. The drone can fly carrying eight extinguishing balls to be fired at fire points. So once a fire point is detected, the drone will fire the balls so that the fire can be extinguished immediately,” he continued.
The National Police have also placed personnel strength on standby nationwide along with portable water pumps to assist with the extinguishing process. In total, more than 71,000 personnel have been deployed.
“The National Police have placed full strength on standby nationally. A total of 48,354 Corshabara personnel and 23,360 Korbrimob personnel have been placed on standby and are ready to be deployed at any time. The equipment we have prepared also includes hundreds of portable water pumps because fires do not only occur near residential areas,” he explained.
72 People Named as Suspects
Previously, 72 people had been named as suspects in forest and land fire cases spread across nine regional police jurisdictions. The National Police have since provided assistance to ensure that the investigation and inquiry processes run optimally.
Dozens of police reports are spread across the Riau Regional Police, West Kalimantan Regional Police, South Sumatra Regional Police, Jambi Regional Police, Central Kalimantan Regional Police, South Kalimantan Regional Police, East Kalimantan Regional Police, Aceh Regional Police, and North Kalimantan Regional Police.
“These nine regional police forces have carried out the investigation and inquiry process with a total of 72 individual suspects having been named. The investigation process was carried out at fire points in the field after hotspots were previously detected,” said Brigadier General Irhamni, Dirtipidter Bareskrim Polri, during a press conference at National Police Headquarters on Sunday (23/8/2026).
Irhamni added that the land burning is strongly suspected to have been carried out deliberately by the perpetrators. The following is a breakdown of forest and land fire suspects:
Riau Regional Police: 30 police reports, 35 suspects
West Kalimantan Regional Police: 18 police reports from 2,282 fire points
South Sumatra Regional Police: 15 police reports from 618 fire points, 17 suspects
Jambi Regional Police: 17 police reports from 64 fire points, 8 suspects
Central Kalimantan Regional Police: 8 police reports from 203 fire points, 11 suspects
South Kalimantan Regional Police: 3 police reports from 318 fire points, 2 suspects
East Kalimantan Regional Police: 2 police reports from 243 fire points, 1 suspect
Aceh Regional Police: 2 police reports from 71 fire points
North Kalimantan Regional Police: 2 police reports from 12 fire points