Climateupdated 2h ago3 min read
Four Killed Tackling Wildfire in Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park as Indonesia Battles Fires
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Four people killed tackling wildfire in Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park, East Java. Two dead were national park officers and two were security guards.
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Java firefighters killed
Four people died while tackling a wildfire in Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park in East Java, Indonesia, the Forestry Ministry said, as the country battled its worst forest fires in more than a decade. The ministry said two others suffered serious burns and were receiving medical treatment, and it expressed “deep condolences” while paying tribute to the “courage and dedication” of officers, volunteers and residents working on the fire lines. The ministry said satellite monitoring detected 799 high-confidence hotspots nationwide as of Thursday night, up 427 from the day before, and it cautioned that hotspots are not the same as fires because one blaze can register as several.
The ministry also said safety “must be the main concern”, including tracking how the fire is spreading and the wind direction, keeping evacuation routes ready and assessing conditions before and during operations. Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto approved accepting help from neighbouring countries, Foreign Minister Arrmanatha Nasir said, and Malaysia offered last month to send three helicopters, an aircraft and 52 personnel, but Reuters reported there had been no follow-up.
Haze spreads, protests flare
A thick orange smog blanketed Palangka Raya in Central Kalimantan, and BBC witnesses captured videos of haze washing over the Kalimantan region as wildfires continued to burn.
The BBC said the ISPU air pollution index exceeded 1,200, four times higher than the “hazardous” level of 300 on Wednesday, and it said toxic smog was choking millions across Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia.
In Palembang, South Sumatra, dozens of students staged a protest outside the South Sumatra Police headquarters on Tuesday, demanding accountability from corporations allegedly involved in forest and land fires.
South Sumatra Police chief Insp. Gen. Rony Samtana said on Tuesday, “The suspects were carrying two sharp weapons when they were detained,” and he said police would “thoroughly investigate this case” in accordance with the National Police chief’s instructions.
In Riau province, hundreds of students staged a protest outside the governor’s office on Tuesday, and protest coordinator Kukuh said, “Almost every year, our people have to breathe smoke from forest and land fires” and urged the government and police to take firm action and arrest those responsible “without discrimination, particularly corporations.”
Dry ice trial, orangutan rescue
Indonesia’s coordinating security minister Dudung Abdurachman said the government was testing dry ice to tackle haze in South Sumatra, and he said the trial was conducted under the president’s direct instruction to help tackle the haze in South Sumatra.
The Guardian reported that a Cessna aircraft would disperse 1.5 tons of dry ice over the South Sumatran city of Palembang, as the government hoped it would ease the smoke and improve air quality and visibility.
The Guardian also said the ISPU air pollution index exceeded 1,200 in the Indonesian province of central Kalimantan on Wednesday, or four times the “hazardous” level of 300, and it said environment ministry data showed the level.
Separately, a conservation group said eight endangered orangutans were released into a protected forest weeks after wildfires destroyed large swaths of their habitat in Indonesian Borneo, and it said the animals were moved Oct. 8 to Batu Nyambu protected forest in West Kalimantan province.
YIARI spokesperson Heribertus Suciadi said, “We want to ensure that rescued orangutans are not simply moved from one place to another,” and he said protected forests capable of receiving displaced orangutans are becoming increasingly scarce as fires spread.