Thekabarnews.com—Indonesia has strengthened aerial firefighting operations across six priority provinces after new forest and land fires burned at least 109.64 hectares in Bangka Belitung, East Java and East Kalimantan.

The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) said every new disaster recorded during its August 20–21, 2026 reporting period involved forest or land fires.

Regional disaster agencies deployed personnel, pumps, vehicles and other equipment to contain the outbreaks.

In East Belitung, fires burned 3.8 hectares across Lalang village in Manggar district and the villages of Lenggang and Lintang in Renggiang district on Thursday, August 20.

Four firefighters used four portable pumps, hoses and an operational vehicle to extinguish the flames and cool the affected land.

Authorities reported no casualties and extinguished the fires on the same day. The East Belitung Disaster Management Agency continued monitoring the sites for possible reignition.

Firefighters also contained three separate incidents in East Java.

A fire burned approximately 20 hectares of forest in the Petak 102 Aren area of Kalianyar village, Ijen district, Bondowoso. Joint provincial and district teams extinguished it at about 6 p.m. on Thursday, August 20.

In Blitar, dry vegetation and leaf litter fueled a three-hectare fire in Kaulon village, Sutojayan district. Authorities extinguished the flames at approximately 6:30 p.m., while investigators continued examining the cause.

Another fire affected eight hectares of community forest in Mategal village, Parang district, and Giripurno village, Kawedanan district, Magetan. Officials reported that the fire had stopped spreading by Thursday.

East Java has maintained a 180-day emergency-alert status for drought and forest and land fires from May 16 through October 6, 2026.

In Paser Regency, fires burned 25.29 hectares of scrub and peatland across Tanah Grogot, Batu Sopang and Batu Engau. Ground crews extinguished the fires on Thursday and continued post-fire monitoring.

Kutai Kartanegara recorded the largest incident in the report, with 49.55 hectares affected across six locations. The Pendingin subdistrict accounted for 42 hectares.

Firefighters contained visible flames at five locations, but drone monitoring continued to detect six or seven active fire points in Pendingin. The official report did not provide an updated containment status after the observation.

BNPB reported operating 39 helicopters across Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, South Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan and West Kalimantan.

The deployment included 26 aircraft for water bombing, seven for patrols and six for supporting weather-modification operations.

West Kalimantan received eight helicopters, the largest deployment after South Sumatra’s nine—including two patrol aircraft, one for weather modification and five for water bombing.

BNPB said it would adjust the deployment according to operational requirements.

Weather modification remains dependent on suitable cloud formation. BNPB coordinates with the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) to identify clouds that could produce rain after seeding.

BMKG reported that 76.5 percent of Indonesia’s seasonal zones had entered the dry season by early August, while below-normal rainfall affected 87.28 percent of the country.

BNPB urged residents to avoid burning activities in fire-prone areas and immediately report smoke or flames to local authorities.