East Java Disaster Management Agency Deploys Water Bombing Helicopter to Extinguish Mount Bromo Fire

After having been extinguished following a severe fire last August, the Mount Bromo area is once again ablaze. The East Java Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) has redeployed a water bombing helicopter with a 1,000-litre capacity to conduct firefighting operations in the re-ignited Mount Bromo region.

According to monitoring results, the fire broke out on Thursday afternoon (10/9) at approximately 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, also known as Teletubbies Hill.

The East Java BPBD team, alongside a joint task force comprising the Probolinggo Regency BPBD, Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park (TN BTS), the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI), the National Police (Polri), and volunteers, has responded swiftly to carry out firefighting efforts.

“Because the fire location is in steep terrain and far from ground reach, land-based firefighting efforts cannot yet be implemented; we are still relying on aerial operations,” said the Head of Emergency and Logistics at East Java BPBD, Satriyo Nurseno, in Surabaya on Friday (11/9).

Consequently, since Friday morning (11/9), the East Java BPBD team immediately deployed the PK-DAP helicopter to conduct water bombing operations. The helicopter, featuring a 1,000-litre bucket capacity, has been performing water bombing at several points, sourcing water from Ranu Pani, Senduro, Lumajang.

Satriyo stated that as of 12:00 WIB today (Friday, 11/9), water bombing operations had been conducted 17 times, discharging a total of 17,000 litres of water.