Water Bombing Could Be Improved

KOMPAS/RHAMA PURNA JATI

A firefighter monitors hotspots from the MI 172-VN 8427 helicopter in Cinta Jaya village, Pedamaran district, Ogan Komering Ilir regency, South Sumatra, Thursday (19/7/2018). Four helicopters have been deployed to extinguish peatland and forest fires and patrol a number of areas prone to fire in southern Sumatra. The taskforce to tackle forest and peatland fires in South Sumatra has declared a “high alert” status in the affected areas, which will be in place from July 20 to Sept. 5.

PALEMBANG, KOMPAS – The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has allocated more than 10 helicopters to reinforce air patrols on forest and peatland fires in South Sumatra, in order to prevent such fires ahead of the 2018 Asian Games.

The helicopters will be placed in nine regions of South Sumatra deemed prone to forest fires, including four regions near Palembang: Ogan Ilir, Ogan Komering Ilir, Banyuasin and Musi Banyuasin. “South Sumatra is our priority, as [its capital Palembang] will co-host the Asian Games,” BNPB chair Willem Rampangilei said in Palembang on Friday (20/7/2018).

Other than South Sumatra, helicopters will also be stationed in the neighboring regions of Jambi and Riau. Riau will get six helicopters and Jambi two helicopters. Central Kalimantan, East Kalimantan and South Kalimantan will also get two helicopters each.

Willem said aerial firefighting operations would be intensified, as the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) had predicted that this year’s dry season would peak in August and September.

Apart from the helicopters, Willem said weather modification technology would also be used in the next two days in South Sumatra.

On Friday, Willem monitored the progress of aerial firefighting in the province. He said the fires had been extinguished and there was still smoke. One helicopter is flying continuous patrols to ensure any underground fire has truly been extinguished.

“Weather modification is used to increase rainfall and engineer environmental conditions to prevent smoke from forest fires drifting toward the Asian Games sports venues,” BNPB spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.

Agus Sentosa, who heads the BMKG observation station at Palembang’s Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II Airport, said it was difficult to attempt weather modification these days, as rain clouds were scarce and were not currently hovering above fire-prone regions.

Locals and officials have been asked to be on alert, as forests and peatland in South Sumatra are prone to fires between early July and September. “There has been no rain in fire-prone regions over the past 10 days,” Agus said.

South Sumatra Police chief Insp. Gen. Zulkarnaini Adinegara said the police were still identifying and verifying fire-prone areas in the districts of Pedamaran and East Pedamaran. South Sumatra Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) data show that at least 360 hectares of forest and peatland are on fire.

ANTARA FOTO/NOVA WAHYUDI

Officers of a joint firefighting team carry fire extinguishing tools during a firefighting operation on peatland at a palm plantation in Parit village, North Indralaya, Ogan Ilir, South Sumatra, on Friday (20/7/2018). The joint team from the Ogan Ilir Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), Manggala Agni firefighting team from Banyuasin, the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police, backed up by Bolkow helicopters belonging to the BNPB, has been striving to extinguish fires in the area since Thursday (19/7).

Rain

According to reports from Pekanbaru, Riau, rain over most of Riau on Thursday night has extinguished forest and peatland fires that broke out over the past week. A huge fire had been detected in Lubuk Gaung village, Sungai Sembilan district, Dumai. Efforts to put it out with the help of five helicopters in a three-day water bombing operation proved ineffective. The rain on Thursday night finally put the fire out.

“It was the rain that put the fire out in Lubuk Gaung. However, we still saw smoke there on Friday morning. We did not want to take any risks, so we immediately sent out a water bomber to tackle it. Land-based operations also helped,” Riau BPBD head Edwar Sanger said.

Currently, most of Riau is deemed safe. However, in the next months, rainfall may decrease, and the fire risk remains high.

Edwar said an MI 172 helicopter that had been stationed in Riau was transferred to Palembang to help firefighting efforts in South Sumatra. “Palembang needs more helicopters,” he said.

In Pontianak, West Kalimantan, peatland fires continue, and more hotspots are cropping up. On Friday, there were 210 hotspots, an increase from 124 hotspots on Thursday.

On Friday, fire raged in Southeast Pontianak district on the outskirts of the city. The fire was just meters away from some homes.

“We received fire reports at around 10 a.m. We immediately went to the location,” Pontianak BPBD officer Munirza said.

Hotspots are also cropping up in several areas of Central Kalimantan. The Central Kalimantan BPBD head Darliansjah said, however, that the fires were under control.

Forest and peatland fires are nothing new in Indonesia, and their annual recurrence has raised public questions over the years. Sutopo said law enforcement should be firmer, as 99 percent of the forest fires were deliberate.

“Without any law enforcement, forest fires will happen every year. Our energy will be spent just on tackling something routine like this, even though preventive measures are possible,” he explained. The government’s annual disaster mitigation fund amounts to Rp 4 trillion (US$278.31 million).

(RAM/SAH/JUM/IDO/ESA/AIK/TAN)