Night Fire on Mount Rinjani, TNGR Deploys Joint Team

The Mount Rinjani National Park (TNGR) area in Sembalun District, East Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, was suddenly engulfed in flames on Friday (7/8) at around 20:00 WITA. The cause remains a mystery and is currently being investigated by the authorities. The affected land is estimated to cover approximately 30 hectares in the Sembalun Resort, though further data collection is still underway. Firefighting efforts were carried out in the dark of night. A total of 22 joint personnel from TN Gunung Rinjani, the Forest Police Partner Community, local residents, SKMA internship students, the Sembalun Police and Military Command, and the East Lombok Fire Department were deployed that night to extinguish the fire. By Saturday (8/8) early morning at 01:30 WITA, the fire was successfully brought under control. The team even conducted a re-inspection of the location to ensure no active hotspots remained before leaving the area. ‘Before leaving the location, the team conducted an inspection of the handled area to ensure there were no active hotspots still detected,’ explained Abdul Muhari, Ph.D., Head of the BNPB Data, Information, and Disaster Communication Centre. The team must still carry out mopping up, which involves sweeping for remaining material that could potentially reignite, to prevent the fire from flaring up a second time. ‘This step is taken to ensure conditions are truly safe while preventing re-ignition,’ added Abdul Muhari. There were no casualties in the incident.