Indonesia Shuts Access to Bromo Park as Wildfire Rages for Sixth Day

Indonesian authorities have shut down access to a national park on Java Island as crews struggle to contain a wildfire that has been burning for nearly a week.

The fire, which broke out Monday in the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park near the popular tourist destination of Mount Bromo, has already consumed 176 hectares (435 acres), according to a local disaster official.

Visitors were barred from entering the park late Saturday, with no reopening date announced.

No injuries or damage to property have been reported so far, said Abdul Muhari, a spokesman for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency.

In a statement on Sunday, he said two water-bombing helicopters had been deployed to douse flames in areas that are hard to reach on foot due to steep slopes and strong winds. “These conditions make air operations important to reach areas that cannot be accessed optimally by land,” he said.

The latest blaze brings back memories of a larger fire in 2023 that destroyed more than 500 hectares on Mount Bromo, triggered by a couple who set off a flare during a pre-wedding photo shoot.

This year, Indonesia is bracing for a longer and more intense dry season, raising concerns over wildfires and drought. The national weather agency BMKG has partly attributed the outlook to the El Niño phenomenon, which typically brings drier conditions to Southeast Asia and India.

The scale of destruction is already striking: more than 107,000 hectares of land have burned across Indonesia in the first half of this year — more than double the area lost to wildfires during all of 2023.

El Niño, a naturally occurring climate pattern that alters winds, air pressure and rainfall around the globe, is being closely watched by authorities as fire risk persists in the months ahead.