TEMPO.CO, Probolinggo - Joint officers performed a 'cooling process' after extinguishing forest and land fires in the Mount Bromo area which is part of the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park (TNBTS) in Probolinggo Regency, East Java.

“We are helping officers to cool down the area so that there are no more embers,” the Probolinggo Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) chief Oemar Syarief said on Tuesday, September 12, 2023.

Dozens of members of the Probolinggo Disaster Management Rapid Response Team (TC) together with TNBTS, East Java BPBD, Disaster Response Team (Tagana), the Indonesian Military (TNI), the National Police (Polri), and volunteers conducted manual monitoring and cooling in the fire-stricken area.

“We are using gepyok (traditional fire extinguisher made of bamboo) and water in the cooling process to ensure that no hotspot appears in the sand area of Mount Bromo and its surroundings,” he explained.

Oemar also said that there were still hotspots in the Jemplang Blok of Ngadas Village, Malang Regency, which is also the TNBTS area. The cooling process was aimed at anticipating the potential for new hotspots.

Since Wednesday night, September 10, the TNBTS management has closed all tourist entrances from the districts of Malang, Pasuruan, Probolinggo, and Lumajang until further notice due to the blaze.

“The access is only opened for people of Ranupani Village in Lumajang Regency and Ngadas Village in Malang Regency,” the TNBTS spokesperson Septi Eka Wardhani said. She also called on the public, visitors, and tourism stakeholders to work together to protect the TNBTS area.

The massive fire in the Mount Bromo area which originated from Watangan Valley Savana Block (Pusung Tumpeng), also popularly known as the Teletubbies Hill, was allegedly caused by the use of flares by visitors who were taking their pre-wedding photos in the area.

ANTARA

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