Water bombing: A novel mission to save Kutai National Park
Water bombing: A novel mission to save Kutai National Park
By Anton Sudarisman
SANGATTA, East Kalimantan (JP): While the rains bring floods
to some cities across the country, devastating fires are raging
in Kutai National Park, East Kalimantan.
So far, the fires have destroyed more than 45,000 hectares of
primary forests -- a quarter of the whole national park --
leaving thousands of animals, many of them endangered, including
the fabulous orangutan and hornbills, homeless, said Warsito,
head of the park.
"Many animals are trapped in small areas with no food
supplies. In a few weeks, many of them will die from starvation,"
said Baharuddin, one of 72 forest rangers currently working in
the 200,000-hectare park.
It has been very difficult to control the fires, particularly
because of the sporadic nature of fire spots.
"We have been working 24 hours a day with hundreds of
potential localities to watch," said Suroso, another forest
ranger. "Most of them are in the southern and eastern parts of
park."
Besides the park team, there other parties working hard
fighting the fires. In Balikpapan, several groups of volunteers
made up of civilians and military personnel have put great
efforts into controlling the spread of fires.
A team was set up by the then secretary of development
operations, Lt. Gen. A.M. Hendro Priyono, who is now minister of
transmigration, to help put out the fires using water bombing.
This team consisted of three pilots, two mechanics, and
several other crew members who prepared a water-chemical mixture
for the bombing missions. A single-engined combat aircraft, the
Pilatus-Porter, was used.
The team began the bombing on Sunday, March 15, using Tanjung
Bara Airport as its base. PT Kaltim Prima Coal, owner of the
airport, provided necessary facilities, such as the fuel and the
crew's accommodation.
The aim of the water bombing was to extinguish fires and
prevent them from spreading.
"We have to complete eight bombing missions each day,
targeting fires across Kutai National Park," explained Lt. Col.
Andri Iskandri, who led the bombing mission.
In each mission, one ton of water mixed with AF-31, a special
chemical produced by Hartindo, was dropped on each fire spot.
"We have to fly as low as three to five meters above the
trees," said Andri.
Disappointing
On each drop, the chemical-water mix could effectively cover
an area 100 meters long and eight meters wide. While also
extinguishing the fires, the mixture formed a fire-resistant
layer on trees as well as the ground, which then functioned as a
firebreak.
"We need to make such firebreaks when we find the fire is too
big for direct bombing so that we can stop the fire's progress,"
added Lt. Rumpoko, one of the three pilots.
As in other combat missions, the bombing itself was tough and
required a high degree of accuracy. To make the bombing
effective, before each flight the team gathered data from
previous surveys to locate potential fire spots, which
unfortunately changed from time to time.
"It's disappointing to see the fires flaring up in several
different areas at the same time. When we have dozens of
potential targets, we usually take the biggest ones," said Lt.
Gloria, another pilot, who had been on a similar mission in
Lampung in southern Sumatra, last year.
Another challenge for the team was the thick haze hanging over
East Kalimantan. In some parts of the park, haze hindered flight
visibility sometimes down to only a few meters, forcing the team
to cancel several bombing missions.
Up to the last day of the bombing missions on Monday, March
23, the bombing seemed to have been a big success. The team
completed 63 sorties, consuming more than 15 tons of AF-31. They
succeeded in extinguishing the fires at several targets and also
successfully prevented some big fires from spreading further.
"Pak Warsito from Kutai National Park confirmed these
successful missions. He personally observed where fires stop
burning and spreading," Andri said proudly.
But he realized that more time and greater efforts were need
because more fires had started to blaze.
"I have heard more fires have started flaring. We need at
least another three weeks to clear some critical areas of fire,"
he said.
But he was called for his next duty. The crew left East
Kalimantan for another mission in Riau, Sumatra on Wednesday,
March 25.
Andri is right. Despite his team's tireless efforts, new fires
are still being igniting across the park. The latest information
said that a big fire has started damaging some areas in Mentoko,
an orangutan research center run by Suzuki Akira of the
University of Tokyo. Hundreds of orangutans being researched are
now in danger, waiting for rescue efforts.
Another report mentioned that flames have crossed the road
between Bontang and Sangatta, moving deeper into the park.
The whole world is watching as thousands of hectares of our
reserved forests vanish in flames, with the screams of endangered
animals being trapped and kill. Ending the plight requires more
effort from the government, companies operating in East
Kalimantan and people like Lt. Col. Andri, Lt. Rumpoko and Lt.
Gloria.
The writer is an employee of PT Kaltim Prima Coal, who
recently joined the water-bombing mission.