Aircraft and assignments
Air Commodore Feri Yunaldi, head of the Indonesian Air Force (TNI AU) Information Service, outlined the deployment to ANTARA in Jakarta on Thursday, October 29. He said aircraft preparations had taken place over the preceding few days and that the helicopters were also available to monitor hotspots.
The deployment covers Nusantara, Mount Ciremai in West Java, Mount Lawu in Central Java and the Galuga Final Waste Processing Site in West Java. Yunaldi did not give an aircraft count for each site.
Air Squadron 8's H225M Caracal helicopters have been assigned to patrol and drop water over forest and land fires in Nusantara and Mount Ciremai. Their water buckets hold up to 2,000 liters, supporting firefighting where ground access is limited.
Earlier fire report near Nusantara
In an October 21 update, Nusantara Capital City Authority (OIKN) head Basuki Hadimuljono said the East Kalimantan fires had not disrupted construction of the new capital. The affected sites were in the Bukit Soeharto area, a considerable distance from the construction zone.
Basuki estimated that about 1,600 hectares had been affected across several locations. That included around 900 hectares in Bukit Soeharto Grand Forest Park and about 600 hectares within oil palm plantation concessions. He said ground crews had extinguished all identified hotspots and that weather modification was considered unnecessary.
Cooling operations at Mount Ciremai
Mount Ciremai National Park's fire in Kuningan District, West Java, was declared contained after checks detected no active hotspots on October 24. The joint response team then concentrated on cooling three blocks: Bintangot, Karang Dinding and Bukit Seribu Bintang.
Kuningan BPBD head Indra Bayu said the response included Air Force water-bombing support, with weather modification planned by the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).
Super Pumas at Mount Lawu and Galuga
For Mount Lawu, Air Squadron 6 has prepared NAS-332 Super Puma helicopters for similar patrol and water-bombing duties. The aircraft can release up to 4,000 liters per sortie.
The Lawu fire started in a pine forest on the morning of October 15 in Gondosuli Village, Tawangmangu District, Karanganyar Regency, Central Java. Tempo reported that the estimated burned area had reached 100 hectares by the afternoon of October 17.
Strong winds and steep slopes hindered manual firefighting. Hundreds of personnel were pulled back from the frontlines because conditions were judged unsafe, while the flames threatened the Tembak and Cemoro Kandang hiking trails.
Super Pumas have also been helping at the Galuga landfill in Bogor District, West Java. Yunaldi said they dropped approximately 54,000 liters in 18 releases over two sorties.
Yunaldi said the helicopters remained active in the firefighting response and would continue supporting containment efforts in the affected regions.
