Sumbing Mountain Wildfires Extinguished, Affecting 974 Hectares
Mount Sumbing in Central Java has finally been cleared of the forest and land fires that had been burning for several days. The total area burnt reached 974 hectares.
“Thank God, the fires in Wonosobo, Temanggung and Magelang have been extinguished,” said Dimyati, administrator of the Kedu Utara Forest Management Unit (KPH), on Saturday (24 October), as reported by detikTravel.
The fires in all three areas of Mount Sumbing have been reported extinguished. However, Perhutani, the base camp managers and volunteers will continue to monitor the area.
“Yes, they have been extinguished as of today. We are continuing to monitor and search the area,” Dimyati said.
The 974 hectares burnt on Mount Sumbing lie within the administrative boundaries of three regencies: Wonosobo, Temanggung and Magelang.
Mount Sumbing is located across these three regencies. Earlier, flames were still visible in the Temanggung area.
“There was one hotspot in Glapansari, Temanggung. It is nearing safety, because the fires in Wonosobo and Magelang had already been extinguished yesterday,” said Bergas Catursasi Penanggungan, acting head of the Central Java Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), on Saturday.
The information came from monitoring at around 10 am that day. An attempt to extinguish the fire by helicopter water-bombing was cancelled because of poor weather.
“The helicopter was about to carry out water-bombing and flew over Mount Sumbing, but the weather was poor, so it turned back,” Bergas said.
In Temanggung, the total area on Mount Sumbing affected by the fire was 344 hectares. In Wonosobo, the affected area was 362 hectares.
Separately, Yulianto, assistant head of the Magelang Forest Management Unit, also confirmed that the wildfire in the Magelang administrative area of Mount Sumbing had been completely extinguished.
“Thank God, by the grace of Allah SWT, the fire on Mount Sumbing in Magelang Regency has been extinguished. It went out yesterday (Friday) at around 2 pm,” Yulianto said.
In Magelang Regency, the wildfire affected 213.4 hectares, specifically in Kajoran and Kaliangkrik districts.
“The total designated area is 335.42 hectares, of which 213.4 hectares were burnt,” Yulianto said.