Jakarta. Indonesia has deployed five additional Air Force aircraft to help combat forest and land fires in Kalimantan as authorities step up efforts to contain the spread of wildfires and reduce haze.

Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya said the five aircraft departed from Abdulrachman Saleh Air Base in Malang, East Java, on Friday afternoon for West and East Kalimantan.

The aircraft will reinforce 30 National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) aircraft already operating across three provinces in Kalimantan, Teddy said in a statement posted on the Cabinet Secretariat’s official Instagram account.

The Air Force has also placed additional aircraft on standby at Halim Perdanakusuma Air Base in Jakarta, ready to be deployed to wildfire hotspots based on BNPB requests and conditions on the ground.

According to BNPB data, 52 aircraft have been deployed to fight forest and land fires across six provinces considered at high risk: Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, and Central Kalimantan.

Of the total, 30 aircraft are operating in Kalimantan, while 22 are deployed in Sumatra.

“The addition of aircraft is part of the government’s efforts to strengthen forest and land fire response, reduce the impact of haze, and protect public safety and the environment,” Teddy said.

BNPB Acting Head of Data, Information and Disaster Communications Berton SP Panjaitan said the aerial deployment was intended to accelerate firefighting and support ground operations.

BNPB and the Air Force have intensified aerial water-bombing missions to extinguish fire hotspots, he said.

“Besides strengthening ground task forces, BNPB is also reinforcing forest and land fire response through aerial task forces in six priority provinces,” Berton said in a statement Friday.

Kalimantan remains the government’s top priority as new forest and land fires have emerged in several areas, particularly in East Kalimantan, according to Berton.

BNPB has urged local governments to strengthen preparedness, monitoring and early detection of potential fires and ensure adequate firefighting equipment and infrastructure.

The agency also called on residents to remain vigilant against hydrometeorological disasters during the dry season, particularly forest and land fires.

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