Fire near Indonesia's Mount Bromo extinguished after 550 hectares burnt, but new hotspots emerge

JAKARTA: A fire in Indonesia’s Mount Bromo National Park in East Java that burnt 550 hectares (1,360 ​acres) has been extinguished, an official said on ‌Monday, but there are new hotspots near the caldera.

The fire, which started on August 3, had affected 550 ​hectares as of Sunday and had been ​fully extinguished, Gatot Soebroto, head of the local ⁠disaster mitigation agency, told Reuters.

Gatot said authorities had found ​new fires in areas around the caldera covering some ​20 hectares.

Mount Bromo is an active volcano, and is a popular tourist destination and best known for its “sand sea” caldera. ​The national park covers over 50,000 hectares.

“The fire around ​the caldera is likely to spread further on Monday,” he said.

More ‌than ⁠120 personnel, three water-bombing helicopters, drones and some fire trucks have been deployed to put out the fires around the caldera, he said.

Authorities are still investigating ​the cause of ​the fire, ⁠but Gatot said authorities suspect it was caused by carelessness.

“A person lit a ​fire, then put it out - but the fire ​was ⁠not fully extinguished,” Gatot said, adding this conclusion was reached because the first flame was found along a route ⁠used ​by visitors.

The national park has ​been closed since Saturday evening because of the fires. There have been no ​casualties reported.