Bromo Extinguished, 1,000 Hectares of Mount Buthak and Kawinajang Land Burnt
Following the successful containment of fires in the Mount Bromo and Mount Lawu areas, forest and land fires (karhutla) in East Java continue to escalate. Flames have now scorched around 1,000 hectares of land in the Mount Buthak area, Malang Regency, and Mount Kawinajang, Blitar Regency.
The Head of the East Java Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), Gatot Soebroto, stated that the first fire hotspots were detected via aerial observation by the PK-DAP helicopter on 13 September 2026. As the fire is located at the mountain peaks and continues to expand, the East Java BPBD team has deployed water bombing helicopters to conduct aerial firefighting.
As of Friday (18/9) at 3:00 PM WIB, water bombing operations have been conducted 16 times, dropping 16,000 litres of water. Targets include fire hotspots above the Meja Bunder Post, the Mount Malang area, and the northern side of Post 3 Buthak and Post 4 Batu Tulis. This series of aerial operations complements previous efforts, which included 15 water bombing runs on Thursday (17/9) and 11 on Wednesday (16/9).
“On Tuesday, we also managed to perform two water bombing runs with 2,000 litres of water. However, due to weather conditions and very strong winds that day, the water bombing could not continue,” said Gatro.
In addition, firefighting efforts are being accelerated via land routes by a joint team consisting of East Java BPBD, Malang BPBD, Blitar BPBD, the TNI (Indonesian National Armed Forces), Polri (Indonesian National Police), Manggala Agni, and local volunteers. The ground forces have been divided into two waves, moving from the Precet Gunung Kawi Post towards Puncak Pitrang, Plot 177 RPH Gendogo, and the Post 3 Batu Tulis area.
“The first wave departed at 3:00 AM WIB and the second wave at 9:00 AM. They are performing manual firefighting and creating firebreaks to prevent the fire from spreading further,” Gatot explained.
Gatot noted that according to data from the East Java BPBD Operations Control Centre, the burnt area in the Mount Buthak and Kawinajang regions has reached 1,000 hectares.
“To date, the area affected by forest fires in the Mount Buthak and Kawinajang regions has reached approximately 1,000 hectares. The joint team is currently continuing to monitor the development of the fire in this area,” he said.
Wildfires are not only affecting Buthak and Kawinajang. Currently, flames are also burning around 50 hectares of the Mount Wilis area in Ngliman Village, Sawahan District, Nganjuk Regency. The fire, which was detected since Wednesday (16/9) morning, is being handled by a joint team focusing on creating firebreaks at four points to isolate the fire’s movement.
“Currently, wildfires are also hitting the Mount Wilis area in Nganjuk Regency, with the affected area reaching about 50 hectares. The fire, which initially occurred on Wednesday (16/9) at approximately 6:15 AM WIB in Plot 24, RPH Gedangklutuk, BKPH Pace, KPH Kediri, Ngliman Village, Sawahan District, is being handled by a joint team by creating firebreaks at four points: Ngongkrok, Ngunut, Lungur Cilik/Sedepok, and Candi Laras,” he concluded.