75 Hectare Fires In The Great Mountain Of Bali Forest Due To Hot Weather

Sawah in Geriana Kauh Traditional Village, Karangasem Regency, Bali 12 kilometers from the crater of Mount Agung. (doc. Researcher of DRPM UI-L.G Saraswati Putri)

The fire that scorched an area of 75 hectares of forest on the slopes of Mount Agung, Karangasem, Bali was confirmed to have occurred purely due to exposure to the sun's hot temperature, not by the negligence of human activities.

This was stated by the Chief Executive of the Karangasem Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) Ida Ketut Arimbawa in an online broadcast entitled Disaster Teropong National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) which was attended in Jakarta, Thursday, October 31.

Ida Ketut explained that a total of 19 firespots were detected in the last two days with a forest area of 75 hectares burned.

Based on the results of satellite monitoring by the Karangasem BPBD team, it was found that the hotspot of the fire was in the back which pushed closer to the summit of Mount Agung, or estimated at an altitude of 1,200-2,000 meters above sea level.

At the same time, Mount Agung is in a closed status for climbing and tourism activities from October 1 to November 1, 2024 in the context of sterilization ahead of the activities of the Hindu community in Karangasem.

BPBD and forestry authorities in Karangasem believe that dry vegetation conditions have been added, exposure to hot weather that has had minimal cloud cover in the last few days has triggered a fire to spread quickly.

This is also reinforced according to the experience of the Karangasem BPBD in handling fires in the Gunung Agung forest area in the mid-September-October transition cycle since the last three years.

Ida Ketut admitted that the location of the fire that was steep because it was on the back of the mountain was then the lack of personnel and equipment for the sprinkling of land water was also a factor in the widespread fire.

However, he revealed, currently the hotspots of forest fires have decreased following the steady rain since Wednesday, October 30 evening.

The Karangasem Regency Government has coordinated with BNPB to be able to carry out weather modification operations to increase the chances of rain and the deployment of waterboombing helicopters to the Gunung Agung area in anticipation of the fire re-emerging during this transition.