Bromo on Fire Again, Flames Spread to Teletubbies Hill

The Mount Bromo area within the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park (TNBTS) has been hit by forest and land fires once again. This marks the second occurrence following a major fire incident last August.

Satriyo Nurseno, Head of Emergency and Logistics at the East Java Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD Jatim), stated that this fire broke out on Thursday afternoon (10/9) at approximately 16:00 WIB, in the Savana Pengol area, Ngadas Village, Sukapura District, Probolinggo Regency.

Driven by strong winds, the flames spread rapidly towards the Watangan Valley, popularly known as Teletubbies Hill.

“A joint team consisting of BPBD Jatim, Probolinggo Regency BPBD, Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park (TNBTS), the TNI, Polri, and volunteers responded immediately with firefighting efforts,” said Satriably on Friday (11/9).

However, Satriyo noted that the steep and difficult terrain has prevented firefighting via land routes. Consequently, since Friday morning, the BPBD Jatim team has deployed the PK-DAP helicopter to conduct water bombing operations.

The helicopter, which has a 1,000-litre bucket capacity, collects water from Lake Ranu Pani in Senduro, Lumajang, to drop on various fire hotspots.

Satriyo Nurseno revealed 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.

“Due to the current condition of very thick fog at the site, we cannot continue water bombing operations for safety reasons,” he added.

In addition to aerial efforts, joint team personnel are stationed on the ground to monitor the fire’s progress and anticipate any spread to lower-lying areas.

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

As a precautionary measure, the TNBTS management office has closed access to Mount Bromo via the Jemplang route in Malang. This closure remains in effect until further notice.

As previously reported, the Mount Bromo area underwent a massive fire that lasted 13 days, from the first ignition on 3 August 2026, until it was fully extinguished and declared fire-free by the joint team on 14 August 2026.

The total area affected by the fires in the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park (TNBTS) last August reached approximately 1,120 hectares.