Sempana Hill Fire Spreads to 116 Hectares, Climbing Routes Temporarily Closed

A wildfire on Sempana Hill in Sembalun Bumbung Village, Sembalun District, East Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, has now consumed 116 hectares. The flames engulfing the hill have yet to be extinguished. “The report came in around 11 a.m. and the total area burned is 116 hectares,” explained Lalu Iskandar, Head of the Protection Section for the East Rinjani Protected Forest Management Unit, on Wednesday. “Our colleagues are heading towards the higher hotspots to try to put them out and create firebreaks to prevent the flames from spreading to other parts of the hill ridge,” Iskandar added.

Climbing access to Sempana Hill has been temporarily closed. The closure was implemented to mitigate the impact of the forest and land fires that started on Tuesday afternoon. Currently, eight active hotspots have been detected on Sempana Hill. Firefighting personnel are overwhelmed due to the rugged terrain and strong winds. “From the basecamp, there are still eight visible hotspots. Because of the steep cliffs and strong winds, several points cannot be reached,” Iskandar stated.

Iskandar suspects that the cause of the fire was illegal hunting activity. “The strong assumption is due to illegal hunting,” Iskandar said. He urged the public not to engage in activities that could spark fires and requested that any potentially hazardous activities be reported immediately.