Indonesia: Water bombing operations to put out forest fires start in south Sumatra

A total of seven helicopters and four fixed-wing aircraft are involved in the mission to put out forest fires in the Ogan Komering Ilir and Musi Banyuasin areas, says Indonesia's BNPB.
Saifulbahri Ismail Channel NewsAsia 11 Oct 15;

JAKARTA: The combined team from Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia has begun water bombing operations to put out the forest fires in south Sumatra.

In a statement issued by Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) on Sunday (Oct 11), a total of seven helicopters and four fixed-wing aircraft are involved in the mission.

The operation will be concentrated in the Ogan Komering Ilir and Musi Banyuasin areas.

Singapore has sent a Republic of Singapore Air Force Chinook helicopter and 34 SAF personnel to help fight the ongoing forest fires, together with a six-man Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team from the Singapore Civil Defence Force, and a 5,000-litre heli-bucket. Two RSAF C-130 aircraft were also deployed to transport SAF and SCDF personnel, as well as their equipment, said Singapore's Ministry of Defence.

Meanwhile, Malaysia has deployed a 25-member team along with three assets, including a Bombardier aircraft that is capable of sucking up over 6,000 litres of water in 12 seconds, enough to put out fires the size of football field each round.

AUSTRALIA TEAM TO JOIN EFFORTS

BNPB added that a team from Australia is expected to arrive in Palembang on Sunday, while Canberra is also expected to send its Thor type Hercules L 100 aircraft with the capacity to carry 15 tons of water early next week.

The Australian aircraft will only be used for five days as it is still needed to put out the forest fires in New South Wales, Australia, said BNPB.

Indonesia is still waiting on confirmation of help from other countries.

- CNA/av


Singapore starts water bombing in Sumatra
MY PAPER AsiaOne 12 Oct 15;

JAKARTA - A CHINOOK helicopter from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) has arrived in South Sumatra province to help Indonesia douse forest and peatland fires that have been sending choking haze across the region, according to Indonesia's top agency battling the disaster.

The Chinook, which is equipped with a 5,000-litre heli-bucket, would operate with six helicopters and two aircraft from Indonesia as well as a Bombardier aircraft from Malaysia, said the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) in a statement.

They would concentrate on water bombing fires in the regencies of Ogan Ogan Ilir and Banyuasin, said the statement, while a local Casa aircraft would focus on rain making.

The pilots and crew were briefed on where and how they would be deployed as well as the safety measures, it added. Singapore's Chinook would be engaged in the operation until Oct 23.

In a Facebook post last night, Singapore's Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said water-bombing operations involving the country began in Palembang yesterday. He added that conditions were difficult "because of the thick smoke that affects visibility".

The Straits Times reported yesterday that the SAF sent a Chinook, two C-130 transport planes and a 34-strong team to Indonesia on Saturday. Together with the group is a six-man Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (Dart) from the Singapore Civil Defence Force, said the Ministry of Defence.

The Dart officers would execute the dropping of water from the heli-bucket to extinguish the fires.

There were 726 hot spots in Sumatra and 182 in Kalimantan yesterday, according to a Twitter post by Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, the spokesman for BNPB.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo last week requested help from its neighbours, including Australia, as well as China, Japan and Russia, to help put out the fires, which have driven air quality in Singapore and Malaysia to hazardous levels at some point.

Indonesia plans to extinguish all the hot spots across the country within two weeks, reported Bloomberg.


Singapore joins multinational effort to douse Sumatra fires
Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja, Straits Times AsiaOne 12 Oct 15;

A multinational effort to fight forest fires in Indonesia began on Sunday (Oct 11) as Singapore joined forces with other countries to help douse fires in South Sumatra.

A Chinook helicopter from Singapore was sent to Indonesia at the weekend to help in firefighting operations there, one of Indonesia's worst-hit areas.

The Chinook, which had a 5,000-litre water bucket, worked with a Bombardier water bomber from Malaysia, which can scoop 6,000 litres of seawater.

They joined two air-tractor water bombers from Indonesia's Environment and Forestry Ministry and six choppers from its Disaster Management Agency (BNPB).

Indonesia accepted Singapore's help last week after turning down its earlier offers.

In a statement to the media on Sunday, BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said Australia's L-100 Hercules aircraft will arrive by Wednesday. "This aircraft will operate for five days in South Sumatra as it will be needed to fight fires in New South Wales," he said.

Indonesia is waiting for more aircraft from other countries to help douse the fires, Dr Sutopo said.

Russia is expected to send a Beriev Be-200 aircraft, which can scoop 12,000 litres of water from a lake or the sea; China is also expected to send a few aircraft.

On Facebook on Sunday, Singapore's Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said conditions for the water-bombing operations in Palembang, South Sumatra, were difficult as thick smoke affected visibility.

Meanwhile, visibility across Singapore was generally good yesterday, with the 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) in the range of 84 to 93 at 10pm. At 10pm, the three-hour PSI was 111.

In its advisory on Sunday, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said the 24-hour PSI for the next 24 hours is expected to be in the moderate range, and may enter the low end of the unhealthy range if denser haze is blown in from the surrounding region.

The NEA said 129 hot spots were detected in Sumatra on Sunday. Prevailing winds are forecast to be weak on Monday, and occasional slight haze can be expected, with visibility likely to be in the normal range.


Malaysia begins firefighting operation in South Sumatera
FAIRUZ MOHD SHAHAR New Straits Times 11 Oct 15;

PUTRAJAYA: The Bombardier CL 415 MP aircraft owned by Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) had started its firefighting operation in the South Sumatera region, today.

MMEA Deputy Director-General (Operations) Maritime First Admiral Datuk Che Hassan Jusoh said the aircraft had carried out water scooping and water bombing, each 10 times, within four hours.

"The scooping of water was carried out in Sungai Lumpur located in the southeast region, 70 miles from Palembang.

"The water scooping session to put out the fire took about seven minutes," he said in a statement, today.

A pilot, a co-pilot and a cabin crew were involved in the operation.

The operation will resume tomorrow and is expected to take five days.

Besides Bombardier, MMEA also sent an AS 365 N3 Dauphin helicopter to Sumatra on Friday to assist the Indonesian government in putting out the fires that have caused the haze around the region.

The Royal Malaysian Air Force has also deployed a Hercules C130 to assist in logistics.