Efforts to extinguish the forest and land fire (karhutla) in the Mount Ringgit area, Hamlet III, Sapikerep Village, Sukapura District, Probolinggo Regency faced major obstacles. The extremely steep terrain surrounded by sheer cliffs hampered the movement of the Quick Response Team (TRC) of the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of Probolinggo Regency. Due to these extreme conditions, officers were forced to focus their strategy on intensive monitoring of the single remaining hotspot until Sunday (26/7/2026) evening.
The fire was first spotted on Saturday (25/7/2026) in the early hours around 01:30 WIB. Strong winds hitting the mountainous area in the midst of the peak dry season caused the flames to spread rapidly. Dry vegetation such as shrubs, wild grass, as well as acacia, pine, and calliandra trees were reported scorched in the incident.
The Chief Executive of Probolinggo Regency BPBD, Oemar Sjarief, explained that direct firefighting at the hotspot was highly risky for the safety of personnel. Given that the evacuation and firefighting routes are dominated by steep cliffs, they chose an anticipatory step by surrounding the surrounding area to isolate the fire so it does not spread to other forest areas.
In this management operation, the Probolinggo Regency BPBD synergized with various parties, including the East Java Province BPBD, Perhutani, TNI, Polri, East Java Disaster Agency, local government, volunteers, and the community. While the joint team maintains the security perimeter, Perhutani is currently conducting a thorough assessment to calculate the total land area affected by the fire.
Anticipating the potential for subsequent forest and land fires during the dry season, Oemar urged the public not to engage in activities that could trigger fires in forest areas, such as burning vegetative waste or discarding cigarette butts carelessly. The alertness of residents in reporting early signs of fire is considered key to maintaining the preservation of the green lungs in the Sukapura area.
