Way Kambas Forest Fires Spread, Water Bombing Helicopters and Thermal Drones Deployed

Efforts to extinguish forest and land fires (karhutla) in Way Kambas National Park (TNWK), East Lampung, Lampung, have received aerial support with the deployment of water bombing helicopters.

The BNPB helicopter registered N360UH arrived in the TNWK area at around 16.00 WIB. The Sikorsky UH-60A Black Hawk aircraft then carried out cooling missions over several areas affected by the fires.

During the operation, the helicopter collected water from a river near the TNWK boundary using a helibucket. The water was then dropped onto points that were still burning.

Aerial water bombing lasted approximately three hours around Braja Luhur Village, Braja Selebah District.

The deployment of the aerial fleet was carried out after President Prabowo Subianto held a virtual meeting with Lampung Governor Rahmat Mirzani Djausal.

Two helicopters were reported to have been prepared to support the handling of the forest fires. The aircraft were brought in from Palembang and East Java respectively to reach areas that are difficult to handle by land routes.

The presence of the helicopters is part of an integrated operation involving the central government, the Lampung Provincial Government, the TNI, the National Police, and joint personnel.

Handling of the fires has not only been carried out through water bombing. Teams on the ground are also using thermal drones to map hotspots and locate embers still beneath the soil surface.

Pangdam XXI/Radin Inten Major General TNI Kristomei Sianturi said that monitoring with thermal technology is being carried out to identify potential fire points that could flare up again.

“Earlier we conducted surveillance first, observation using thermal imaging to see fire points that may still become embers and cause recurring fires. Next, according to the instructions of the President and the TNI Commander, we deployed Team Alpha to difficult locations that still have remaining hotspots,” said Kristomei on Wednesday, 26 August 2026.

After hotspots are identified, joint personnel are deployed to areas that are difficult to access. The fast roping method is used to lower team members into isolated locations so that extinguishing efforts can be carried out immediately.

Ground handling is then reinforced by aerial water bombing. The team has also prepared spraying drones with varying capacities to help tackle fire points that cannot be reached by land access.