Antara News·Indonesia·Sunday, November 8, 2026 at 12:42 AM UTC

Australian water bombers begin operations to fight fires in Kalimantan

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Arumanto, Fauzul Azhim Bin Fakhrurazi

The firefighting mission is focused on four priority areas: Samarinda City, Kutai Kartanegara Regency, Paser Regency, and East Kutai Regency.

Samarinda (ANTARA) - A fleet of water-bombing aircraft provided by the Australian Government has officially begun operations to tackle forest and land fire (karhutla) hotspots in East Kalimantan Province.

East Kalimantan Deputy Governor Seno Aji, speaking in Samarinda on Saturday, explained that the deployment of the water bombers, which can carry 15,000 liters of water per sortie, was a swift response by Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) to a request submitted directly by the East Kalimantan Provincial Government in Jakarta.

“We requested support to tackle forest and land fires in East Kalimantan. Thankfully, BNPB responded quickly by deploying aircraft from Australia to conduct water-bombing operations in the region,” Seno Aji said.

Seno added that the provincial government was scheduled to oversee the water-bombing operations. He also said that the Australian Prime Minister was expected to visit East Kalimantan in person on Wednesday, November 11.

The intensive aerial operation is scheduled to continue until November 12 to tackle fires that have affected a total area of approximately 40 to 50 hectares.

The firefighting mission is focused on four priority areas: Samarinda City, Kutai Kartanegara Regency, Paser Regency, and East Kutai Regency.

Meanwhile, East Kalimantan Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) Executive Head Buyung Dodi said that on the first day of operations, a Hercules C-130 aircraft belonging to the New South Wales Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS) immediately conducted three water-bombing sorties over the critical area of Makroman, in Sambutan District, Samarinda City, on Friday (November 6).

“With this capacity, fires in rural areas that are difficult for ground teams to reach can now be tackled more quickly and effectively,” Buyung said.

During the one-week operational period, the large aircraft is expected to conduct up to six sorties per day, with its operational base at Dhomber Air Force Base in Balikpapan.

In addition to deploying the Hercules C-130 as a Large Air Tanker, the Australian Government also sent a Cessna Citation aircraft to serve as a lead plane, along with 20 tactical aviation specialists from NSW RFS.

As a ground-level precaution, all district and city BPBD units, together with personnel from the East Kalimantan Forest and Land Fire Task Force, have been placed on full alert to coordinate the latest satellite imagery data with the flight routes of the Australian assistance aircraft.

Meanwhile, the official handover and send-off ceremony for the two aircraft was previously held at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in Jakarta on Thursday (November 5). The event was attended by BNPB Head Lt. Gen. Kristomei Sianturi and Australian Ambassador to Indonesia Roderick Bruce Brazier.

Australian Ambassador Roderick Bruce Brazier explained that the humanitarian mission was rooted in the two countries' longstanding strategic partnership and history of mutual assistance in responding to major disasters, including Cyclone Tracy in Darwin in 1974 and Australia's forest and land fires in 2020.

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