Mount Saukang in Maros Catches Fire, Climbers Evacuated

Personnel from the Fire Service (Damkar) together with Basarnas Makassar were deployed to extinguish the blaze burning forest and land on Mount Bulu Saukang, Maros Regency, South Sulawesi. A number of climbers were evacuated from the summit.

“Yes, the fire was first seen at post 5 of Mount Saukang, tonight,” said Ilham Halim Syah, Head of Infrastructure and Information at Maros Fire Service, on Sunday (6/9).

Ilham said his team was continuing to monitor the situation and had coordinated with Manggala Agni, as the burning area is mountain and forest terrain.

“If needed, we will deploy personnel; our members are on standby and ready,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ondong, a member of a volunteer SAR team, said the fire was first spotted at post 5 of Mount Saukang at around 20.00 Central Indonesia Time, after which climbers were urged to descend from the summit immediately.

“It happened at Isya prayer time. Many climbers had to be evacuated,” said Ondong.

Ondong explained that the fire from post 5 then spread to the public trail at post 3 and towards the summit area.

“The latest information is that post 5 is burning. The fire keeps spreading — it spread at post 3 on the public trail, and then the summit also caught fire. The distance from post 5 to post 3 is about one kilometre. From post 5 to the summit is about 300 metres. Roughly one kilometre has burnt,” he explained.

Ondong said the evacuated climbers had been in the Bukit Alvath area. The site managers were still checking registration cards to ensure all climbers had descended.

“Thank God, everyone has come down. Now we are checking all the tickets,” he concluded.

Two Climbers Suffer Breathing Difficulties

A total of 68 climbers were trapped on Mount Saukang in Maros Regency, South Sulawesi, when the forest and land fire broke out on Sunday (7/9) evening.

“The fire was reported to have started at around 20.12 Central Indonesia Time. At the time of the incident, the Mount Saukang area was crowded with climbers,” said M. Ilham Halim Syah, Head of Infrastructure and Information at Maros Fire Service, on Monday (7/9).

According to data from the Bulu Saukang monitoring post, there were 337 climbers in the area in total, with 68 still on the mountain when the fire broke out.

“All climbers were evacuated during the fire, including those who were trapped — everyone was brought down to the post,” he said.

Three female climbers required treatment during the evacuation: two suffered breathing difficulties, while one twisted her ankle.

“All three received treatment from the joint team. Most of the evacuated climbers have also left the location,” he explained.

The firefighting operation involved 21 personnel and two vehicles. However, the fire engines could only reach the foot of the hill, so firefighting on the upper slopes was carried out manually.

“Firefighting on the hill used jet sprayers or backpack pumps,” he said.

Those involved in the firefighting and evacuation efforts included Maros Fire Service, Basarnas, Tompobulu Military Command, Tompobulu Police, Tompobulu Community Health Centre, Mapala UMI, Saukang Explorer, and local residents.

“We are still carrying out firefighting and monitoring on Mount Saukang. Meanwhile, the size of the burnt area is still being calculated,” he said.