Wildfire Sweeps Through Mount Sumbing, 152 Hikers Evacuated

A forest and land fire swept through the Mount Sumbing area in Wonosobo regency, Central Java, on Monday (19 October 2026). A total of 152 hikers had to be evacuated as a result.

Bergas Catursasi Penanggungan, head of the Central Java Provincial Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), said that as of Tuesday (20 October 2026), 53 hotspots had been detected around Mount Sumbing. “The area affected is about 140 hectares,” he said when contacted on Tuesday.

He said the fire had spread relatively quickly. “The vegetation that has caught fire is savannah. Fires spread faster through savannah,” he said.

Bergas said 152 hikers had been evacuated because of the fire. “All the hikers on Sumbing were brought down last night. There were 152 in total,” he said.

He explained that 300 joint personnel, including members of the Indonesian Military and National Police, had been deployed to fight the fire. Bergas said the possibility of using water-bombing operations had not yet been discussed. He added that water bombing is usually carried out after the local government declares a disaster emergency response status.

Bergas said the cause of the fire was still unknown. However, he did not rule out human negligence as a possible trigger.

He said the El Niño phenomenon had made vegetation in mountainous areas drier, creating conditions in which fires could start more easily.