Joint Officers Continue To Put Out Forest Fires On Mount Ciremai

Officers monitored the forest area that caught fire at Gunung Ciremai National Park, Kuningan Regency, West Java, Friday (25/8/2023). (ANTARA/HO-BPBD Kuningan)

KUNINGAN - Joint officers from a number of agencies and the community are still fighting forest fires that occurred in Batu Kuda Block, Bukit Seribu Bintang, Gunung Ciremai National Park (TNGC) area, Kuningan Regency, West Java.

The Head of the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of Kuningan Regency, Indra Bayu, said that forest fires had only been discovered by local residents in Pasawahan District, Kuningan Regency, who had seen the flames since Friday afternoon.

"At around 10.30 WIB, people can see smoke in the Batu Kuda Block area. Residents around the location make efforts to extinguish the fire and report to related parties," said Indra as quoted by ANTARA, Friday, August 25.

He conveyed that the exact cause of the fire was not yet known and how much land was affected, but it was confirmed that various plants that lived in forest areas were dominated by alang-alang vegetation.

Joint officers from various agencies, said Indra, are still trying to extinguish the fire so that it does not continue to spread, which is feared to spread to the Kuningan Botanical Gardens.

"Currently the fire is in an area that is difficult to reach because the terrain is rocky, dangerous," said Indra.

The head of the TNGC Center, Maman Surahman, added that he had deployed a number of officers to extinguish the fire, which until now at around 20.00 WIB the fire had not been extinguished.

"We are busy controlling the fire," said Maman.