Bromo on fire again, East Java BPBD deploys water bombing operations

A forest and land fire occurred on Thursday (10/9) afternoon at approximately 16:00 WIB, specifically in the Ngadas Village area, Sukapura District, Probolinggo Regency. Due to strong winds, the fire has spread towards the Watangan Valley, also known as Teletubbies Hill.

The East Java Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) has once again deployed water bombing operations using helicopters to handle the forest and land fires (karhutla) in the Mount Bromo area, which has caught fire again.

The Head of Emergency and Logistics at BPBD East Java, Satriyo Nurseno, stated in Surabaya on Friday that after being extinguished following a major fire last August, the Mount Bromo area is now burning again.

“The fire occurred on Thursday (10/9) afternoon around 16:00 WIB, specifically in the Ngadas Village area, Sukapura District, Probolinggo Regency. Due to strong winds, this forest and land fire has spread towards the Watangan Valley or Teletubbies Hill,” he said.

He noted that the East Java BPBD team, alongside joint teams from the Probolinggo Regency BPBD, Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park (TN BTS), the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI), the National Police (Polri), and volunteers, have responded swiftly to carry out firefighting efforts.

Consequently, he stated that since Friday morning, the East Java BPBD team immediately deployed the PK-DAP helicopter to conduct water bombing operations.

“The helicopter, which has a bucket capacity of one thousand litres, is performing water bombing at several points, with the water source located at Ranu Pani, Senduro, Lumajang,” he said.

He added that as of 12:00 WIB today, water bombing operations have been conducted 17 times, with a total of 17,000 litres of water discharged.

In addition to the water bombing, numerous personnel from the joint team are currently on standby to monitor the forest fire conditions at Mount Bromo to anticipate the fire spreading to the lower areas.

“Currently, the total area affected by the fire is still being recorded, and the fire has spread to the Gunung Kursi area,” he said.

As a preventative measure against this Bromo forest fire, the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park (TNBTS) authorities have closed tourist access to Mount Bromo via the Jemplang route in Malang. The closure will remain in effect until further notice.