Efforts to extinguish forest and land fires in the Mount Biru area, Mojokerto Regency, East Java, continue to be optimized. Entering the fourth day of emergency operations, a joint team from various agencies finally succeeded in reaching and subduing one of the hotspots in the area.
The East Java Provincial Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) reported that the burned area has now reached 65.9 hectares. The majority of the scorched vegetation is dominated by dry reeds, mountain pines, and ferns.
Although the affected area continues to expand, East Java BPBD emphasized that they will not deploy water-bombing helicopters yet. The aerial firefighting option is deemed not yet urgent because the current hotspots are still in wild vegetation areas far from residential settlements and do not disrupt productive agricultural lands.
The biggest challenge faced by personnel on the ground is the difficult land access to the mountain slopes, particularly in areas triggering the potential spread of new fires. To date, the monitoring team reports that two active hotspots are still moving towards Pujon District, Malang Regency, prompting tighter cross-regional monitoring and coordination.
