The fire in the "Bromo Tengger Semeru" national park on the island of East Java in Indonesia, which covered 550 hectares (1,360 acres), has been extinguished. At the same time, new fire hotspots were discovered near the caldera. Reuters reports, UNN writes.
Details
The fire, which began on August 3, had covered 550 hectares as of Sunday and was completely extinguished, local disaster management agency chief Gatot Soebroto told Reuters.
Local authorities said that new fire hotspots had been detected in the area surrounding the caldera, covering approximately 20 hectares.
Mount Bromo is an active volcano and a popular tourist destination, best known for its caldera with a "sea of sand." The national park covers more than 50,000 hectares.
"The fire around the caldera is likely to spread further," the statement said.
More than 120 people, three water-dropping helicopters, drones and several fire engines were deployed to extinguish the fires around the caldera.
Authorities are still investigating the cause of the fire; officials suspect negligence.
"Someone started a fire and then put it out, but it was not completely extinguished," officials said.
The national park was closed on Saturday evening because of the fires. No injuries have been reported.
Ash from Mount Etna paralyzed air traffic at an airport in Sicily10.08.26, 12:23