Ciremai Mountain Wildfire Still Burning at 10 Locations; Water Bombing Deployed
By the third day, efforts to extinguish the forest and land fire on Mount Ciremai in West Java, which began on Wednesday night (21 October), had yet to succeed.
Kuningan Regency Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) chief Indra Bayu said that as of Saturday (24 October), the fire on Mount Ciremai remained unextinguished. Strong winds and steep terrain had made firefighting difficult.
Of the 13 fire locations on the mountain, about three had been put out, leaving 10 as of Saturday. “The number of fire locations fell significantly. PUTA and thermal-drone monitoring found 13 locations at 6pm on Thursday, 22 October 2026. After firefighting operations, 10 remained at 4pm on Friday, 23 October,” Indra said on Saturday afternoon, as quoted by detikJabar.
“The vegetation that has burned includes scrub, reeds, dry leaf litter and pine trees,” he added.
Firefighting methods
Indra said the response was being carried out in two ways: helicopter water bombing and manual firefighting. Water bombing was being focused on areas that were difficult to reach.
“Firefighting operations are using water bombing and manual methods. There have certainly been two water-bombing runs, and hopefully they can continue, at least in the difficult-to-reach areas. They may also be used to cool those areas,” Indra said.
On Saturday, a joint team comprising the Mount Ciremai National Park (TNGC), the Indonesian Military (TNI), the National Police, BPBD, forest and land fire control teams, firefighters, Tagana, the Community Fire Awareness Group (MPA), volunteers and local residents was deployed across three fire sectors.
The sectors are Bukit Seribu Bintang (BSB), Karang Dinding and Bintangot. The total area burned has not yet been established.
“On Saturday, 24 October 2026, the team was divided into three firefighting sectors: the BSB, Karang Dinding and Bintangot blocks. We still cannot determine the area burned, as our priority has been responding to the fire. Mapping efforts are currently focused on locating the fire points, so we cannot yet say how many hectares have been affected,” Indra said.
He said the cause of the fire was still unknown. However, if intentional activity is found to be involved, it must be followed up.
“We cannot yet draw any conclusions about the suspected cause. The fire initially started at the boundary between the traditional-use zone and the wilderness zone. This should be a concern for all parties, because any violations must be followed up. If it is indeed deliberate, that must be taken seriously,” Indra said.
Meanwhile, Asep, a spokesperson for the Silihwangi Majakuning Community Fire Awareness Group, quoted its chairman, Nandar Juniar Arif, as saying that steep terrain and strong winds were hampering firefighting on Mount Ciremai.
He said the MPA team was concentrating on creating firebreaks to prevent the blaze from spreading.
“The terrain is quite steep. From below, it takes about two to three kilometres on foot to reach Karang Dinding, and firefighting is more feasible at night than during the day, when the wind is stronger. We are not using water, but conventional tools such as sickles, hoes and branch beaters, focusing on making firebreaks. Nearly 1,000 people have joined in, including around 177 MPA personnel,” Asep said.