Indonesia: Fires on Mount Lawu spread threatening historic temple

Ganug Nugroho Adi, The Jakarta Post 25 Aug 15;

The forest fire on Mount Lawu, which is located in the border area of Central and East Java provinces, has further expanded, nearing the Candi Cetho temple and forcing the authorities to close the mountain to hiking activities.

The blaze, which broke out on Sunday in Magetan and Ngawi regencies in East Java, spread on Tuesday to areas near the temple located on the slopes of the mountain, in Karanganyar regency, Central Java.

According to the administrator of state-run forestry firm Perhutani’s Forest Functionary Office (BKPH) in Surakarta, Central Java, Bob Priambodo, the fire has razed forest areas in North Lawu, in Karanganyar regency.

“We have deployed personnel from Perhutani and forest community groups assisted by the Indonesian Military [TNI] and police officers to fight the fire,” said Bob.

The Magetan Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) in East Java has also deployed 30 personnel to help extinguish the fires on the slopes of Mt. Lawu, including Perhutani territory.

“The BPBD personnel will help Perhutani firefighters who have arrived at the location to prevent the fire from spreading further,” Ma-getan BPBD head Agung Lewis told the media in Magetan on Tuesday.

According to him, the personnel will later be posted around a kilometer from the fire location to create a firebreak and get rid of combustible undergrowth.

“The firebreak is designed to prevent the fire from spreading to other forested areas and in the hope of localizing and dousing the fire” Agung said.

Separately, Perhutani’s South Lawu BKPH administrator Marwoto said at the fire location that the fire had expanded to forested areas around Candi Cetho, a Hindu temple complex built during the Majapahit Kingdom in 15th century, as well as the Mt. Lawu National Park.

Rough terrain and strong winds have hampered firefighting efforts.

“The fire broke out on Sunday afternoon. Personnel from Perhutani, the TNI and police had carried out anticipatory measures around Candi Cetho, but the fire flared up due to strong winds,” said Marwoto.

He added that to expedite firefighting efforts, and for safety reasons the Mt. Lawu hiking path from Candi Cetho to Magetan had been closed temporarily.

He was unable to fully determine the extent of damage.

Separately, Surakarta Perhutani spokesman Suko Haryono said the slopes of Mt. Lawu slope were prone to fires during the dry season.

“The forests around Mt. Lawu catch fire almost every year, especially during the dry season like now,” he said.

He added that based on data from the Mt. Lawu Perhutani office, massive fires earlier razed forested areas around Mt. Lawu in 2002, 2006, 2009 and 2012.

The fire in 2002 was the worst having razed 6,284 hectares of forest.

So far, the fire has razed between 50 and 75 hectares in a protected forest managed by Lawu Perhutani.

Last week, all hiking trails to the peak of Mount Merbabu in Central Java were also closed because of fires in 25 hectares of savanna areas around the mountain.