According to AFP, an Indonesian official in charge of disaster response said that the fire has burned down 176 hectares of forest since it broke out on August 3 (local time) in Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park, near Bromo Mountain - a famous tourist destination in East Java province.
Faced with the diễn biến of forest fires, local authorities have closed the area and banned tourists from accessing it from the evening of August 8 until further notice.
Spokesman for the Indonesian National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Abdul Muhari said that no casualties or property damage has been recorded due to the fire.
According to Mr. Muhari, 2 fire helicopters have been deployed to extinguish fires in areas that firefighters have difficulty accessing due to steep terrain and strong winds.
In 2023, a fire burned down more than 500 hectares of land in Mount Bromo after a couple lit flares during a pre-wedding photoshoot.
The Indonesian Bureau of Meteorology, Climate and Geophysics (BMKG) warned that the country may face a harsh and longer dry season this year, thereby increasing the risk of forest fires and droughts due to the impact of El Nino.
More than 107,000 hectares of land in Indonesia were burned down in the first half of this year, more than double the area burned in the whole year of 2023.
El Nino is a natural climate phenomenon that causes global changes in wind, atmospheric pressure and rainfall. This phenomenon often makes the weather in Southeast Asia and India drier.
