"Officers continue to make efforts to put out the fire in Bantengan and Poo Doyong blocks in Ranupani Resort at the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park," Wawan Hadi Siswoyo, an official of the Lumayang disaster mitigation office (BPBD), stated here on Sunday.
A joint team comprising the national park's officers as well as police and military personnel along with the local BPBD officers had been deployed to fight the wildfire.
The blaze razed an area measuring 115 hectares on Mount Semeru's slope. A water source is located some four kilometers from the fire.
In the meantime, fire spread through several mountain areas on Java Island lately during the current prolonged drought induced by the El Nino natural phenomenon.
In Central Java, a blaze spread across a forest area on Mount Andong in Temu, Jogoyasan Village, Ngablak Sub-district, Magelang District, recently.
The cause of the fire was yet unknown, Edy Susanto, head of the Magelang District Disaster Mitigation Office (BPBD), stated.
A ranger notified the Magelang BPBD regarding the fire on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. local time, he remarked.
A joint team, constituting rangers, firefighters, and volunteers, was deployed to promptly extinguish the blaze. The team managed to put out a fire on the middle slope but was yet struggling to extinguish another fire spot located on a steep slope.
A partition was built to prevent the fire from spreading to a wider area. However, a strong wind blew in the opposite direction, and the fire spread to the top of the mountain. Related news: Blaze tears through forest on Mount Andong in Magelang
Related news: Conflagration razes Mount Pogor forest area
EDITED BY INE
Translator: Zumrotun S, Fardah
Editor: Suharto
Copyright © ANTARA 2019
