Forest Fire on Mount Andong in Magelang Burns 3.67 Hectares

A forest and land fire (karhutla) occurred on Mount Andong in Magelang earlier this week. Joint teams of volunteers and authorities successfully extinguished the blaze after four hours.

Sururi, one of the managers of the Mount Andong hiker basecamp via Temu Kidul, stated that the fire occurred on Monday (10/8). He said the fire was reported by local residents around 12:00 WIB when they saw smoke billowing over Mount Andong.

“We immediately coordinated with all agencies, the Fire Care Community (MPA), Perhutani, and local residents. We coordinated and went straight up to extinguish it,” Sururi told reporters at the Temu Kidul hamlet post on Monday (10/8).

“We went up together with the police, the military command, and we worked together. Eventually, the fire was extinguished by 16:00 WIB,” he continued.

The joint team estimated the total burned area to be 3.67 hectares. Sururi noted there were around eight fire spots, with dry leaves, pine needles, and dry twigs being the main fuel.

He confirmed that the burned land was not on the hiking trail, which meant the joint team’s efforts were hampered by difficult terrain. “It is not a hiking access point. It is an area rarely touched by people. The challenge in extinguishing it was the steep terrain and the fact that it is rarely traversed, making the path slippery,” he said.

Sururi explained that the firefighting was done manually by beating the flames and spreading soil. “The process took between two to four hours. Because many spots that had been left after being extinguished reignited. The wind was quite strong and the leaves were very dry, with many twigs falling,” he added.

Meanwhile, Lukas Munadi, Head of the Pagergunung Forest Management Resort (KRPH), stated that the forest and land fire occurred in Block 27 A of the Pagergunung PRH, Ambarawa BKPH, North Kedu KPH, which falls within the administrative area of Jogoyasan Village, Ngablak District. “The burned area in Block 27 A 1 is approximately 2.85 hectares and in Block 27 A 3 is approximately 0.82 hectares. The types of plants/forest vegetation burned were shrubs, alang-alang grass, calliandra, and pine. The estimated loss due to the fire is Rp 541,500,” Lukas said in a written statement.