Forest fire destroys part of Mount Lawu areas

A forest fire on Mount Lawu, located on the border of Central and East Java, has destroyed 25-30 hectares of land, but the extent of damage has likely increased, a government official stated.

Joint efforts to extinguish the forest fire have been made over the past few days, but the prolonged drought and strong winds had hindered the fire fighters` endeavors, Djohan Surjoputro, Mount Lawu`s administrative authority, stated here on Saturday.

Several hundreds of people, including local volunteers and personnel of state-owned forestry company Perhutani, military, police, and environment agency, participated in the joint efforts, he said.

Moreover, the fire fighting task force also deployed its personnel in the hotspot-affected areas, Surjoputro said.

"We have not yet calculated the total width of the affected areas, as we still focus on extinguishing the fire," he stated, adding that five patches of protected forest in Ngawi District, East Java Province, were also engulfed by the fire.

However, the forest fire engulfing the patches of protected forest Number 30, 39, and 19 could have been put out while those of Number 15 and 17 remain under threat, he stated.

Owing to its scenic view, beautiful Edelweiss flowers, and crater, Mt Lawu has become one of the mountains in the Indonesian island of Java, which is frequently scaled by mountaineers.