"The nine helicopters earlier conducted aerial patrols to monitor hotspots in Riau. However, hotspots have appeared again so water-bombing efforts are needed," BNPB spokesman Agus Wibowo told Antara in Pekanbaru by phone on Wednesday.
The nine helicopters would be involved in water-bombing operations in turns, he said.
"The water bombing efforts are likely to have the same pattern as earlier. Four of the helicopters will lead water-bombing operations while the other three will conduct aerial patrols and be put on standby," he said.
As a coordinator of disaster mitigation efforts, BNPB would also ready three Cassa planes, consisting of one from the Air Force, one from the Navy and one from the Army, he said.
"Each of the forces has readied one plane to conduct cloud seeding, if needed," he said.
An Antara journalist observed smog again shrouded a number of areas in Riau province over the past few days.
The smog forced three planes to divert flights as visibility at Sultan Syarif Kasim (SSK) II Airport in the provincial capital Pekanbaru dropped to less than 500 meters.
The local authorities have again put the province under "smog alert status" and will cooperate with BNPB in putting out the land and forest fires. (*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2013
