Wildfire at Indonesia’s Mount Bromo mostly contained as smoke forces school closures

Indonesian firefighters have largely controlled a wildfire that ravaged a significant portion of Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park on Java's main island, though several hot spots remain to be extinguished, authorities reported. The blaze, which ignited last week, affected approximately 900 hectares (2,224 acres) across the park, primarily dry grassland, vegetation, and protected edelweiss flowers.

The popular tourist site of Mount Bromo, a volcanic landscape, was closed as crews worked to prevent the fire from spreading further. As of Tuesday, active hot spots persisted at Puncak 30, a tourist viewpoint, and Dengklek, the volcano monitoring post location. Park head Suharyanto stated that he anticipates the two remaining hotspots to be extinguished by Friday, allowing the deployment of two water-bombing helicopters to combat forest fires in other regions.