Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan (ANTARA) - The South Kalimantan Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) is now waiting for 10 helicopters it has proposed to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) to handle forest and land fires (karhutla).
“We use helicopters to reach fire area which is difficult to pass by land,” said Daily Executor of the South Kalimantan BPBD Bambang Dedi Mulyadi in Banjarbaru, Sunday.
He said the proposal has been received by the BNPB and the helicopters are planned to arrive by the end June or in July.
“We keep coordinating with BNPB so the helicopters assistance will come soon,” he said.
Related news: South Kalimantan waiting for water bombing heli, fires reach 80 hectares
He expounded that the 10 helicopters have different type and functions. Two if them will be used to patrol throughout South Kalimantan, while the other eight are water bombing helicopters.
Bambang insisted that fire handling by using helicopters in South Kalimantan is urgently needed, because it is a vulnerable area.
The terrain in South Kalimantan is difficult, with lots of swamps and wilderness that are difficult to traverse land transportation.
The BPBD has proposed helicopter assistance in response to the growing forest and land fires.
This is an extra vigilant of the BPBD team in early efforts to prevent forest and land fires.
Bambang called all his ranks in districts and cities to always carry out routine eqipment maintenance to make it easier to handle when forest and land fires occurs.
Meanwhile, Manager of Center for Operation Control (Pusdalops) of the BPBD Ricky Ferdyanto said 2,000 hotspots spread in South Kalimantan.
“The fire have hit about 100 hectares of areas in South Kalimantan,” he said.
He mentioned that the largest fire was in Tanah Laut District about 47 hectares of land.
Read also: South Kalimantan increasing alert, forest and land fires hit 14 areas
Read also: Five posts to prevent forest and land fires set up around Syamsudin Noor Airport
