Forest And Land Fires Fire On Mount Lawu Still Optimizing Water Bombing

Fire fighting using the water bombing method in the Gunung Lawu area, Karanganyar Regency, Central Java, Monday (9/10/2023). ANTARA/Aris Wasita

The fire extinguishing of forest and land fires (karhutla) in the Gunung Lawu area, Karanganyar Regency, Central Java, is still optimizing the water bombing method or the fall of water bombs.

The Chief Executive of the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of Karanganyar Regency, Juli Padmi Handayani, said that until Sunday, October 8, the handling of forest and land fires with water bombings entered the 8th day.

For the blackout point, he said, it was focused on the surroundings of Hargo Tiling and Hargo Puruso.

"The development is widespread, the current condition is widespread and the area is increasing. The area is about 150 hectares and at 29 points," he said, quoted by ANTARA, Monday, October 9.

He said the hotspots were widespread because of the wind and the location of the heights that could not be reached.

"So we colleagues have not been able to extinguish it manually. For today we have carried out isolation activities involving 406 people, consisting of 4 SRUs (Search and Rescue Units)," he said.

Manual outages can be performed if the hotspots are in a flat location.

"So maybe every day there are blackout activities. If this is the case, we can monitor and block," he said.

Meanwhile, the Perhutani Perum Perhutani Administratur KPH Surakarta Herry Merkussiyanto Putro said the burned land area was still at 150 hectares, but it did not rule out the possibility of an expansion of the burned land.

He said the possibility of the expansion was due to the limited handling time for manual blackouts. On the other hand, the terrain also hampers the extinguishing process so that it can only rely on extinguishing through air lines.

"Currently it is 150 hectares, but it is possible that it will expand because based on field conditions the location is difficult to reach and wind," he said.

Regarding the fire trigger factor, according to him, because the pile of material from the cypress tree has been deposited for four years.

"Yes, when talking about cypress vegetation, then the material has been piled up for four years, so it is very likely that the fire will arise," he said.