KARANGANYAR: Central Java police have requested helicopter assistance from the Army to extinguish forest and land fires on the slopes of Mount Lawu in Karanganyar regency.
The request came amid difficulties in putting out the blaze because of steep terrain and cliffs, which have prevented joint firefighting teams from reaching the site by land.
Central Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Roy Hardi Siahaan, who visited the site on Saturday, witnessed the obstacles faced by firefighters. The provincial police force subsequently coordinated with National Police headquarters to request helicopter assistance from the Army for water-bombing operations.
The fires started on Oct. 15, burning pine forests and spear grass shrubs.
Central Java Police will also coordinate with the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) and the Meteorological, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) on further measures, including the possibility of conducting weather modification operations.
On Saturday, 244 personnel were deployed from various agencies.
Karanganyar Police deployed personnel from the Samapta and Mobile Brigade units to join firefighters from the Indonesian Military (TNI), the regional disaster mitigation agency (BPBD) and other volunteers.
“We are doing our best to prevent the fire from spreading to East Java,” Roy said. “The terrain, however, is difficult and we have limited facilities and still rely on conventional equipment.”
Mount Lawu is shared by two provinces. Its western part lies in Karanganyar regency, while its eastern part is in Magetan regency, East Java.
Roy said he expected the Army to deploy helicopters from the Army Aviation Centre based in Semarang to conduct water-bombing operations.
He also coordinated with the deputy regent of Karanganyar, the BNPB and BMKG to discuss further measures to extinguish the fires.
“The possibility of weather modification was discussed with the BMKG as an option to overcome the dry season conditions and strong wind that have become obstacles in dousing the forest fires,” he said. “This will depend on the BMKG’s assessment as to whether weather modification is possible.”
The Karanganyar regency administration has declared a 14-day emergency response period, running from Oct. 17 to Oct. 30. The declaration allows the administration to coordinate firefighting measures more effectively.
Authorities have yet to determine the cause of the fires because a fire scene investigation has not been conducted. Roy, however, did not rule out human error.
“Most likely it is because of human error, but we cannot say so because we haven’t examined the fire scene,” he said.
Separately, Karanganyar BPBD executive director Sugiharjo said hiking routes had been closed since September following forest fires on the Magetan regency side of Mount Lawu.
