Japanese aircraft conduct test flights to combat forest fires: BNPB

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1 day ago

Jakarta (ANTARA) – The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said Japanese air support that arrived on Thursday had immediately conducted test flights to strengthen efforts to extinguish forest and land fires in several areas.

The aid was transported aboard the JS Kunisaki, docked at Kijing Port, Mempawah District, West Kalimantan.

“The JS Kunisaki is carrying three Chinook heavy-lift helicopters and 180 to 300 personnel. Test flights are currently underway at Supadio Airport, Pontianak,” BNPB Acting Head of Disaster Data, Information, and Communication Center, Berton SP Panjaitan, informed on Thursday.

According to him, the Japanese team’s water bombing aerial firefighting operations are scheduled to begin on September 11-12, 2026, after the test and strategy development process is complete.

In line with the disaster management cooperation plan, the Japanese team will remain on standby for 21 days to support ground and air firefighting operations at forest and land fire sites.

The six priority provinces for forest and land fire management are Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, and Central Kalimantan.

Panjaitan said the agency also targeted areas outside the six priority provinces, ranging from volcanic areas to national parks, including one large fire hotspot that occurred in the Awu Volcano area in Sangihe Islands, North Sulawesi.

Furthermore, Raja Ampat District, Southwest Papua, encompasses nine sub-districts and eight villages, and the 300-hectare Mount Butak area in Malang District, East Java, are also being monitored.

Fires have also engulfed approximately 40 hectares of land in the Mount Ciremai National Park in Kuningan District, West Java, 42 hectares in the Galuga Landfill in Bogor District, and the Putri Cempo Landfill in Surakarta City.

“The fires around Mount Awu Volcano affected four sub-districts, eight urban villages, and 14 villages, with the burned area reaching around 913 hectares,” Panjaitan informed.