Wildfire in Mount Ciremai; 61 Hikers Evacuated
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8 August 2019 06:45 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Wildfire fires raged Mount Ciremai National Park, Kuningan District, West Java, since Wednesday afternoon, August 7 until the early hours of Thursday, August 8. No report yet on losses and the affected area.
Kuningan Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) head, Agus Mauludin, said the haze spread by the wind heading to the south. "We continue to carry out monitoring until tonight, hopefully, we can shortly extinguish the fire," Agus told Tempo.
The fire started in the block of Walet Cave, near the mountain peak, Argalingga, Majalengka Regency. Clouds of smoke were first seen on Wednesday, at 13:00 WIB.
The haze and smoke spread rapidly in the area due to quite strong wind. Kuningan BPBD along with Majalengka BPBD inspected the area and evacuated hikers and strived to put out the fire.
The joint team of the two BPBDs, police, and local volunteers succeeded in evacuating 61 hikers; 25 of them from Apuy hiking trail, 31 from Palutungan trail, and 5 from Linggarjati. Following the forest and land fire, Mount Ciremai National Park was then closed for public activities.
DEFFAN PURNAMA