South Kalimantan BPBD ready to use chopper to stamp out forest and land fires

Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan (ANTARA) - After receiving an AS350B3e PK-DAM type helicopter from the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), South Kalimantan BPBD now ready to use it to stamp out forest and land fires. 

“We have received the chopper in Syamsudin Noor Airport, we will immediately use it to handle fires at areas difficult to reach by land,” said Head of South Kalimantan Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) Raden Suria Fadliansyah here, Tuesday night.

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He said for standard operating procedure (SOP) of the chopper, the agency has collaborated with the Syamsudin Noor Air Base, Banjarbaru, last month.

“There is already SOP for helicopter flights, but for technical matters we still need an internal meeting,” Suria expounded.

The helikopter has two functions, to patrol the air to monitor hotspots in airport area, which has been set as a priority in preventing haze caused by fires, and as water bombing to drop water from the air with a capacity of 1,000 liters of water.

The agency also coordinated with the South Kalimantan Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), Syamsudin Noor Airport, South Kalimantan Police, and related agencies concerning the use of helicopter.

He said the arrival of the helicopter was a form of BNPB's quick response to handling forest and land fires in South Kalimantan.

He said South Kalimantan Governor Sahbirin Noor always gives a positive response regarding acceleration handling of forest and land fires in the province.

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