Air Force cloud seeding runs help contain Benguet forest fire

Photo from the the Facebook page of the Air Force Weather Group

MANILA, Philippines — The cloud seeding operations of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) have helped contain the forest fire in Benguet, with only “pockets of fire” remaining.

PAF spokesperson Col. Maria Consuelo Castillo, in a statement on Wednesday, said 1.2 tons of salt were dispensed by its  LC-210 aircraft all over the province to trigger rains over areas affected by the blaze.

These operations, Castillo said, yielded favorable results, based on the observation of the Bureau of Fire Protection.

“The areas surrounding the forest fire became damp; the spread of the fire was suppressed,” Castillo also said in a regular Armed Forces of the Philippines press conference on Tuesday.

The cloud seeding operations began on March 2 and are still ongoing.

Castillo said, however, that these were only “pockets of fire.”

Aside from the cloud seeding operations, the PAF previously conducted helibucket operations.

At least 200 hectares of forested areas in the Cordillera Administrative Region have been ravaged by fires since January this year, according to local authorities.

In February 2019, five men were died while helping put out a fire that razed a 60-hectare forest area in Benguet.