Indonesian Authorities Send 6 Helicopters to Put Out Kalimantan Forest Fire

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Central Kalimantan Disaster Management and Fire Fighting Agency (BPBPK) said that six helicopters have been deployed to mitigate the land and forest fires in the province. Central Kalimantan's BPBPK chief Ahmad Toyib said that from January 1 to October 1 this year there have been 34,320 hotspots spread across 13 districts and one city. In total, the area of land burned reached 8,991.47 hectares.

Toyib said that since October 1 the provincial government has received an additional Super Puma type water-bombers from the National Disaster Management Agency., each with a water carrying capacity of 4,000-5,000 liters

"With the addition of one helicopter unit, there are currently six helicopter units operating in the Central Kalimantan area, namely one special patrol unit and five water bombing units," he said in Palangka Raya, Monday, October 2.

Support for extinguishing land and forest fires by air, he said, is to optimize handling in the field, including to various points or locations that are difficult to reach by land.

As of October 1, there have been 8,279 water bombing activities in Central Kalimantan to mitigate land and forest fires, with the water discharge volume reaching 28,654,300 liters.

ANTARA

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