TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The hiking trail of Mount Guntur in Tarogong Kaler Sub-district, Garut, West Java, is finally closed to the public due to the forest fire in the past three days. The fire thus far has burnt down over 200 hectares of land.

“We are closing the hiking trail until it’s safe and the fire is put out,” Agung Firmansyah, the West Java Conservation Agency Forest Ranger said on Wednesday, August 21, 2024.

Agung explained that warning signs to discourage hikers have been installed at hiking posts in Citiis, Pasawahan Village, and Cikahuripan, Panjiwangi Village.

He also said that hikers who were still on the mountain had been evacuated. "We have checked that no hikers are trapped (on the mountain)," he confirmed.

Until this article was published, the fire that had been ongoing since Monday, August 19, 2024, was still ablaze. Thick smoke from the 2,249-meter-high mountain is visible from Garut City.

Hotspots were seen in the Citiis, Cigenjreng, Cilopang, and Leuwingsaeutik Blocks. Joint teams from the BKSDA, the National Police and the Indonesian Armed Forces, the fire ranger, the Regional Disaster Management Agency, and volunteers were still trying to put out the fire manually.

"We are striving to block the fire from spreading out to Citiis Block as many animals inhabit the area,” said Agung.

Forest fires often occur in Mount Guntur during the dry season. The fire is attributed to the large volume of weeds and the type of sandy soil and lava rocks emitted from the eruption that dried out the plants in rapid succession.

SIGIT ZULMUNIR

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