The forest and land fire that has again struck the Mount Bromo area\nsince 3 August 2026 is apparently not a new problem. Decades ago, this\narea in the Tengger Mountains was also hit by major fires. One of them\noccurred in 1953 and was allegedly triggered by the activity of\nresidents burning charcoal.<\/p>\n
As a result, the forest fire raged for two days on the slopes of\nMount Bromo, around Sapikerep, Sukapura District. A report by Java-bode\n(31 July 1953) stated that the fire destroyed around 125 hectares of\ncasuarina forest and a plot of newly planted land.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor two days, a forest fire raged on the slopes of Ringgit and Bromo\naround Sapikerep in Sukapura District. In total, 125 hectares of\ncasuarina forest and a plot of newly planted land were destroyed by\nfire,\u201d the report stated.<\/p>\n
A similar account was reported by Het nieuwsblad voor Sumatra (3\nAugust 1953), which covered the burning of hundreds of hectares of land.\nAccording to that newspaper, the fire was suspected to have been caused\nby charcoal-burning activities by local residents.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe cause of the fire was most likely charcoal burning by\nresidents,\u201d wrote Het nieuwsblad voor Sumatra.<\/p>\n
In fact, counting back 20 years, a fire caused by residents\u2019\nactivities had also occurred. On 16 October 1933, fire also appeared in\nthe Laut Pasir or Zandzee area in the Tengger Mountains. The flames then\nspread rapidly towards Lumajang and Malang.<\/p>\n
A report by De Indische Courant (17 October 1933) noted that the fire\noccurred on the slopes of Zandzee and was suspected to have been caused\nby residents\u2019 activities.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn Monday afternoon, a fire broke out on the slopes of Zandzee,\nspreading from Lumajang to Malang,\u201d wrote De Indische Courant.<\/p>\n
The fire even affected the Bromo Nature Reserve. Nevertheless, the\narea was temporarily saved from further damage. Firefighting efforts\nwere then carried out jointly. Officials and local residents stepped in\nto stop the flames.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Department of Home Affairs, the Forestry Service, and the\nProbolinggo Field Police, with the help of local residents, were busy\ncarrying out firefighting efforts,\u201d wrote the Bredasche Courant\nnewspaper (18 October 1933).<\/p>\n
The fire only subsided after lasting for 3-4 days. According to a\nreport by Het Volk (23 October 1933), this occurred after the spread of\nthe fire was successfully prevented. Officers dug trenches to stop the\nmovement of the fire.<\/p>\n
Although the fire was extinguished, its traces could not disappear\nquickly. It took a long time for Bromo to become green again as it once\nwas.<\/p>\n
Moreover, Bromo has long been known as a tourist destination. In the\nearly 20th century, foreign travellers had already come to enjoy the\nbeauty of this area, including watching the sunrise from Bromo.<\/p>\n
One of the people who witnessed this beauty was an American tourist,\nThomas H. Reid, in 1907.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs we stood on the wall of the enormous crater, facing the sea of\nsand, we witnessed a golden glow slowly radiating from behind the\nmountain peak to the east. We felt our journey had not been in vain,\u201d\nReid wrote in Across the Equator, A Holiday Trip in Java (1908).<\/p>\n
On this basis, the fires that have struck the Bromo area since long\nago are not only about burning forests, but also concern the\npreservation of the natural landscape that remains a tourist attraction\nto this day.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/residents-burning-charcoal-blamed-for-125-hectare-forest-fire-on-mount-bromo-1786362698", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }