Dense Smoke Hinders Aerial Firefighting Operations for Forest and Land Fires

Jakarta: Suharyanto, Head of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), stated that efforts to combat forest and land fires in Central Kalimantan continue to be hampered by poor visibility. These conditions have prevented aerial firefighting helicopters, specifically those used for water bombing, from operating for over a week.

"Regarding Central Kalimantan in particular, we reported that water-bombing helicopters have been unable to fly for more than a week due to low visibility," Suharyanto said in a statement cited on Tuesday, October 13, 2026.

Suharyanto conveyed this during a limited meeting with President Prabowo Subianto, which was held in a hybrid format. The BNPB continues to prioritize ground-based operations to tackle the fires in Central Kalimantan and South Sumatra.

"For Central Kalimantan and South Sumatra, we are still focusing our efforts on ground operations," Suharyanto said.

Meanwhile, BNPB plans to bolster its response by deploying weather-modification operations to help address the fires in both provinces. Suharyanto stated that the agency would deploy six additional aircraft to Central Kalimantan and South Sumatra.

"Four aircraft will be used in Central Kalimantan, and two aircraft, deployed from Pangkal Pinang, will be used in South Sumatra," Suharyanto said.

The BNPB is committed to mobilizing all available resources to combat the fires throughout October. These efforts will continue while awaiting natural rainfall, which the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) predicts will begin falling between mid-October and November.

"We will continue to work hard and exert our utmost effort, utilizing all available capabilities, at least throughout October," Suharyanto said.