Three Water-Bombing Helicopters Deployed to Tackle Forest Fires in South Kalimantan

Forest and land fires in South Kalimantan Province are worsening and spreading. Three water-bombing helicopters have been deployed to tackle the fires from the air. In recent days, the South Kalimantan Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) has activated the Air Task Force. “Currently, the condition of hotspots and forest and land fires is increasingly widespread, so we are operating water-bombing helicopters,” said Ronny Eka Saputra, Head of BPBD South Kalimantan, on Sunday (26/7). A total of three water-bombing helicopters are recorded, along with two air patrol units consisting of one helicopter and one Cessna aircraft. The Air Task Force is an assistance from the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) operating across all of South Kalimantan, especially in the ring one area around Syamsudin Noor International Airport in Banjarbaru. Ronny added that the previously implemented Weather Modification Operation was not extended due to limited rain clouds. The Cessna aircraft previously used for the operation has been repurposed as an air patrol plane to help monitor hotspots and land fire conditions on the ground. The widespread fires have caused smoke haze to blanket parts of South Kalimantan. Banjarbaru City is the worst affected area, shrouded in thick smoke. Besides causing a pungent odour, the haze also carries particulate matter and ash from the land fires. Meanwhile, the South Kalimantan Climatology Station recorded that the PM 2.5 air quality concentration on Saturday (25/7) continued to decline and was generally in the Moderate to Unhealthy category, with an average PM 2.5 concentration of 78.2 µgram/m3. The highest concentration, reaching 292.2 µgram/m3, occurred at 2 a.m. local time, placing the air quality in the Hazardous category. The BPBD South Kalimantan Operations Control Centre noted that on Sunday (26/7), at least 17 hotspots with medium and high confidence levels appeared across various regions of South Kalimantan.