Instead of water, some 400 kilos of crushed ice were dropped this morning to the still ablaze portion of
Lt. Col. Jose Ritchie Pabilonia, commander of the Technical
Operations Group (TOG) XI, 3rd Air Division of the Philippine Air Force (PAF)
revealed the first experimental operation after six days of continuing
grassfire in Mt. Apo
He said the Super Huey helicopter made a 50-minute
flight to accomplish the experimental operation but he could not offhand
determine the comparable effectiveness of crushed ice in putting out the fire.
“We have yet to confirm the effect of the crushed ice with
the volunteers on the ground,” he told the media in an interview during the
Regional Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (PDRRMC) meeting in Davao City
Under the Eastern Mindanao Command of the Armed Forces of
the Philippines (AFP), the TOG 3rd Air Division has been conducting
bambi-bucket operation , pouring water into the grassfire site using a single
Super Huey helicopter.
Pabilonia looked forward to the possibility of again
dropping crushed ice in succeeding days, depending on the availability of
supply. If effective, the PAF can mobilize its UH1H helicopter (aside
from the Super Huey) to lift and dump crushed ice over affected areas.
Regional Executive Director Joselin Marcus Fragada in a
separate interview said a total of 324 hectares were gutted but only around 10
hectares to 20 hectares were forest tree areas while the rest were grasslands.
Meanwhile, PAF has received request of the Office of
Civil Defense (OCD) 11 for additional helicopter but Pabilonia said his command
has yet to receive the other Super Huey from PAF central command.
He deemed it necessary to have a replacement of the Super
Huey that has been deployed to do the bambi-bucket operation because “it
has only 11 (hours) and 59 minutes remaining flying hours” which he estimated to run about
three to four days.
“It will have to end its operation to undergo maintenance
for about 8 days to 10 days; after which, it will take few days for test
flights,” he explained to the media.
On the other hand, OCD 11 Regional Director Liza Mazo
revealed that Solano and Davao ice plants donated the 400 kilos of
crushed ice used this morning during the experimental operation of
TOG 3rd Division of PAF.
“We are supposed to buy it. Upon knowing that it was for Mt. Apo
Mazo saw another option of putting out the fire through
cloud-seeding operation which the Department of Agriculture is
ready to conduct once necessary cloud formation is present and wind direction
is favourable.
DA 11 expressed such commitment to help douse
the Mt Apo grassfire during the RDRRMC meeting which also tackled
concerns on El Nino.
http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/1591459495756/paf-uses-crushed-ice-to-help-stop-mt-apo-blaze
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