300 Hectares of Mount Soputan Protected Forest Destroyed by Fire

The Head of Emergency and Logistics at the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of Southeast Minahasa Regency, North Sulawesi, Julex Wanga, said the fire in the protected forest of Mount Soputan has spread to 300 hectares.

“Since the fire broke out on Sunday (2 August), we estimate it has reached 300 hectares or even more,” said Julex in Manado on Tuesday (4 August).

He stated that the trigger for the spreading fire in the protected forest area of Mount Soputan was the considerably strong wind. “The wind is indeed blowing quite hard — you can barely stand — and the area is increasingly difficult to reach,” he said.

Hotspots have even appeared alternately: some die down for a while, then re-emerge elsewhere. “As of last night there were around four to five hotspots, and they were extensive,” he said.

Joint personnel from the regional government, the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI), the National Police (Polri), nature lovers, community groups and local residents continue to make maximum efforts to extinguish the spreading flames. “On the second day of the fire, we even fought the blaze until 24.00 Central Indonesian Time,” he added.

Earlier, on Sunday (2 August) at around 09.45 Central Indonesian Time, a fire was reported in the protected area of Mount Soputan. Fifteen minutes later, the Southeast Minahasa BPBD, together with other agencies, had arrived at the scene and begun extinguishing efforts. By the second day, the burned protected area was estimated at 50–100 hectares.