A severe forest and land fire (karhutla) struck the Mount Gombak area, also known as Mount Nglarangan, in Sukosari Village, Kauman District, Ponorogo Regency, East Java. The incident, which lasted from Monday afternoon to early Tuesday morning, scorched about 15 hectares of forest area before joint officers finally managed to bring it under control.
The Chief Executive of the Ponorogo Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), Masun, explained that hotspots were first detected on Monday at around 15:00 WIB. The blaze reportedly started from the lower slopes and quickly spread toward the peak.
The fire initially consumed the northern side of Mount Gombak before spreading to the western, eastern, and parts of the southern sectors of the mountain range. Joint personnel took about eight hours to tame the flames, which continued to spread across challenging terrain.
During the extinguishment efforts, ground teams relied on manual equipment such as fire flappers (gepyok) and created firebreaks to cut off the fire's path. Fortunately, the fire did not reach nearby residential areas. As of now, officers remain on standby at the location to monitor potential new hotspots, while the exact cause of the fire is still under investigation.
