Mount Ciremai Forest Fire Extinguished, Officials Conduct Cooling Process

The forest and land fire (karhutla) that struck the Mount Ciremai National Park (TNGC) area has finally been extinguished. Although flames are no longer visible, joint task forces remain stationed at the location to carry out the cooling process.

The Head of the Kuningan Regency Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), Indra Bayu Permana, confirmed that fire hotspots in the highest mountain area of West Java have not been monitored since Wednesday (9/9) night.

“As of Wednesday (9/9) at 20:00 WIB, fire hotspots in the Mount Ciremai area were no longer visible,” said Indra on Thursday (10/9).

He added that even though the fire has been put out, joint officers are staying on-site to perform cooling and containment. This step is being taken to prevent the emergence of new fire spots (reignite) in the previously burnt areas.

Based on preliminary data, the fire initially appeared in the Cileutik Block, then spread to the Manguntapa and Simaung Blocks located in the Singkup Village area, Pasawahan District, Kuningan Regency.

“The burnt land area is estimated to be around 40 hectares. However, TNGC authorities are still conducting accurate mapping,” Indra explained.

Indra admitted that the firefighting process on the ground faced heavy challenges. The access roads to the fire points are very steep and dominated by rocks, making the mobilisation of personnel and equipment difficult.

In addition to geographical factors, weather constraints were a major obstacle. Changing wind directions and limited water sources at high altitudes made the fire difficult to control. The condition of the vegetation, which had dried out due to a long dry season, also accelerated the spread of the fire to other blocks.