Arjuno-Welirang Forest Fire Reignites After Being Declared Extinguished
Forest and land fires in the Arjuno-Welirang area of Raden Soerjo Grand Forest Park in East Java have reignited, officials confirmed on Tuesday (25/8). The fires had previously been declared extinguished on Friday (21/8).
Gatot Soebroto, Head of the East Java Regional Disaster Management Agency, who monitored the affected area directly from a helicopter, confirmed the situation. Based on his aerial observations, although several points had been brought under control, two fire points remained active with thick smoke rising below the summit.
According to Gatot, unpredictable mountain weather conditions caused the remaining fire points to reignite, forcing the joint team to intensify firefighting operations. “On Friday, 21 August, the fire had actually been extinguished. But due to the weather, it reignited,” Gatot said on Tuesday.
After identifying new fire points, Gatot immediately deployed the PK-DAP helicopter with a capacity of 1,000 litres to conduct water bombing operations. However, he noted that weather conditions continued to pose challenges. “From that point we carried out water bombing. However, because the weather on Arjuno changes easily, water bombing cannot always be carried out,” Gatot explained.
Gatot expressed hope that water bombing operations could run optimally so that the fires in the Arjuno-Welirang area could be fully extinguished soon. As of 12.00 WIB, the helicopter had conducted eight sorties and dropped 8,000 litres of water on the fire points.
The main focus of the water bombing was two fire points below the summit of Mount Arjuno that are extremely difficult for ground firefighting teams to reach.
According to data from the East Java BPBD Operations Control Centre, the fires have caused significant ecological damage. The affected area in the Arjuno-Welirang region has reached 146.85 hectares.
Despite the intensified aerial operations, Purnomo Probo Nugroho, Head of Forest Resource and Ecosystem Conservation at the East Java Forestry Office, said ground operations have not been neglected. A total of 30 joint personnel from the Raden Soerjo Grand Forest Park team, Manggala Agni, Pasuruan Regency BPBD, the Indonesian National Armed Forces, the Indonesian National Police, and volunteers continue to climb and conduct manual firefighting. They are moving through two hiking routes: the Sumber Brantas route in Batu City and the Tretes route in Pasuruan.
“The vegetation that has burned is predominantly mountain cypress. The rest consists of alang-alang grass and shrubs,” Purnomo said.
The forest and land fires in the Raden Soerjo Grand Forest Park area of Mount Arjuno-Welirang were first reported on Tuesday (18/8). As a result of the fires, hiking routes on Mount Arjuno-Welirang have been temporarily closed since Wednesday (19/8) until an unspecified date, based on an announcement issued by the Raden Soerjo Grand Forest Park technical implementation unit.