A large-scale wildfire has consumed approximately 176 hectares, or 435 acres, of Mount Bromo within the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park in East Java. As one of Indonesia's most prominent tourist destinations, the park was officially closed to visitors on Saturday. Rudijanta Tjahja Nugraha, the park chief, stated that the site will remain shuttered until further notice.
Efforts to extinguish the blaze are currently underway, involving a massive mobilization of hundreds of personnel, including firefighters, police, soldiers, disaster management teams, park rangers, and local volunteers. Responders are utilizing helicopters and drones to assist in the operation, while crews have worked to construct firebreaks to contain the spread. Nugraha noted that the terrain has presented significant challenges, as certain hotspots are situated on steep volcanic slopes that are largely inaccessible by land.
The incident at Mount Bromo occurs during an unusually dry season in Indonesia, where authorities have warned of an increased wildfire threat. The country’s Meteorological, Climatological and Geophysical Agency attributed the rapid spread of fires to extremely dry vegetation and strong winds. These conditions are exacerbated by the El Niño weather pattern and seasonal dry winds originating from Australia.
While wildfires are a recurring issue across Sumatra and Borneo during dry spells—often ignited illegally by plantation owners or traditional farmers for land clearing—the current national situation has seen multiple blazes reported across the archipelago. These fires have historically been responsible for blanketing parts of Southeast Asia in hazardous haze.
