Semeru Forest Fires Extinguished, Over 3,000 Hectares Affected
Forest and land fires (karhutla) in the Mount Semeru area of East Java have been successfully extinguished after a combined team carried out operations via land and air routes. The area affected by the fires up to 1 September 2026 is estimated to have reached more than 3,000 hectares.
Head of the Lumajang Regency Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) Isnugroho said his office had coordinated with the National Park Management Section (PTN) Region III of Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park (TNBTS) Ranupani. Based on the latest developments, the extinguishing activities were declared complete after officers no longer found any hotspots.
“We coordinated with the PTN Region III TNBTS Ranupani in Lumajang because as of 5 September 2026 the activities were declared complete as there were no longer any hotspots. Patrols will subsequently be carried out by TNBTS,” said Isnugroho on Sunday (6/9/2026).
According to him, based on information from TNBTS, the area burned up to 1 September reached approximately 3,072 hectares. This figure remains provisional as TNBTS officers are still calculating a number of affected areas.
The affected areas are spread across several blocks of the TNBTS area. In the Dingklik, Pacis Bincil, Kedaluh, and Penanjakan blocks, the burned area was recorded at around 211.24 hectares, while the Bantengan, Watangan, Jantur, and B29 areas reached approximately 881.78 hectares.
The most extensive impact of the forest fires was in the Ranu Kumbolo area and its surroundings, reaching approximately 1,887 hectares. Meanwhile, the burned area in the Krepelan Block, Ranupani Village, is still being calculated by TNBTS officers.
The scale of the affected area meant that the handling operation did not rely solely on ground-based extinguishing. Water bombing helicopters were also deployed to reach fire locations that were difficult for officers to access due to the steep mountainous terrain.
In one aerial firefighting operation, helicopter PK-DAP belonging to the East Java Provincial BPBD carried out 35 flights to drop approximately 35,000 litres of water onto the affected areas. The operation was temporarily halted due to fog and strong winds around Mount Semeru that disrupted flight safety.
Aerial firefighting was crucial because some hotspots were located in areas that were difficult to reach by land. A number of fire points were previously identified in the Ranu Kembang, Ledok Bedor, and Bukit Ayak-Ayak areas, as well as areas leading towards Ranu Kumbolo.
Meanwhile, officers moving via land routes carried out damping down operations to ensure that embers did not reignite. The Lumajang Regency BPBD Standby Team, together with combined elements, also headed to the Krepelan Block towards Ranupani carrying firefighting equipment, including water sprayers and blowers.
The Lumajang Regency BPBD Rapid Response Team (TRC) subsequently conducted patrols and monitoring for the possibility of new hotspots emerging. Monitoring was carried out along the Mount Semeru hiking trail up to Post 2, and so far no new hotspots have been found.