Antara News·Indonesia·Friday, October 30, 2026 at 03:22 PM UTC

Three helicopters deployed to fight forest fires in South Sumatra

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Rahmad Nasution

Palembang (ANTARA) - South Sumatra's Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) has deployed three water-bombing helicopters to fight forest and land fires in Ogan Komering Ilir District.

Sudirman, head of emergency response at the agency, said here Friday that fires were still burning in Cengal, Pedamaran and Sungai Menang Subdistricts.

"Three water-bombing helicopters were deployed to Ogan Komering Ilir on Thursday (Oct. 29) to fight fires in Cengal, Pedamaran and Sungai Menang," he said.

The helicopters conducted 18 water drops over Cengal, 15 over Pedamaran and eight over Sungai Menang, according to firefighting records.

Despite the 41 water drops, fires in all three subdistricts remained active, with smoke still rising from several locations as firefighting operations wound down.

"Although dozens of water drops have been carried out, the fires in these three areas have not been fully extinguished. Smoke was still rising from several sites when operations ended," he said.

In Cengal, fires had affected an estimated 10 hectares, of which four hectares had been brought under control.

In Sungai Menang, fires had affected about eight hectares, with three hectares brought under control. In Pedamaran, two of the three hectares had been extinguished.

Patchy, light rainfall has hampered firefighting efforts, leaving some fire sites not fully extinguished.

The South Sumatra agency is continuing to monitor and tackle smoke-emitting hotspots to prevent fires from intensifying and spreading.

"Despite the rainfall, we are continuing to monitor and tackle hotspots that are still emitting smoke to prevent fires from intensifying and spreading," Sudirman said.

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