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🇮🇩 Indonesia /Disasters & Emergencies

Water-bombing helicopter deployed to fight Mount Ijen wildfire

From CNN Indonesia · () Indonesian

Translated from Indonesian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • East Java authorities redeployed a water-bombing helicopter from Mount Semeru to Mount Ijen after receiving emergency requests.
  • The helicopter made two sorties on Sunday, dropping one tonne of water per sortie, but operations paused Monday for routine maintenance.
  • Firefighting efforts are focused on two locations in Banyuwangi and Bondowoso, where steep terrain, strong winds and changing weather complicate operations.

A water-bombing helicopter has been moved from Mount Semeru to Mount Ijen to fight a forest and land fire after the Semeru operation officially ended.

Gatot Soebroto, head of East Java’s regional disaster management agency, said the redeployment followed requests from the Natural Resources Conservation Agency and the emergency response declaration by the Banyuwangi regent. The helicopter moved to Banyuwangi and operates through Bondowoso while tackling the fire at Ijen.

Ijen experienced a fire, and we sent a water-bombing helicopter after receiving a request from the Natural Resources Conservation Agency and an emergency response letter from the Banyuwangi regent.

· Gatot SoebrotoThe East Java disaster agency official explained why the helicopter was redeployed.

On Sunday, the aircraft conducted two water-bombing sorties, each carrying one tonne of water. Operations were suspended on Monday for routine maintenance and were scheduled to resume Tuesday.

As usual, the helicopter undergoes routine maintenance on Monday, so no water bombing was carried out today. Water bombing will resume on Tuesday.

· Gatot SoebrotoHe explained the temporary suspension of aerial firefighting.

Authorities estimate that the fire has affected 20 hectares. The figure has not been updated because teams have not yet been able to remap the affected area. Steep cliffs, strong winds and rapidly changing weather have made the work difficult for ground crews and have disrupted helicopter operations.

The response is concentrated at Mount Merapi Ungup-ungup in Taman Sari, Licin district, Banyuwangi Regency, and Curah Macan hamlet in Kalianyar village, Ijen district, Bondowoso Regency.

The steep terrain and strong winds make it difficult for ground teams to fight the fire and disrupt helicopter operations during water bombing because the weather often changes.

· Gatot SoebrotoHe described the operational challenges at Mount Ijen.
About this summary

Originally published by CNN Indonesia in Indonesian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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