Ranu Pani Lake only water source for Mt. Bromo wildfire: BNPB

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3 hours ago

Jakarta (ANTARA) – The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has said there is no other water source available for extinguishing the fire at Mount Bromo in East Java besides Ranu Pani Lake.

“Water refilling for the firefighting fleet (water-bombing helicopters) currently relies on supply from Ranu Pani,” BNPB chief Suharyanto said in a statement here on Saturday.

He said Ranu Pani Lake has been used to its full capacity as a water source by the joint task force that has carried out firefighting operations at Mount Bromo for the past 10 days.

Ranu Pani Lake sits at an altitude of around 2,100 meters above sea level and is known as the starting point of the hiking trail to Mount Semeru, which also lies within the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park (TNBTS).

Aerial water spraying has also become the main method, as ground teams were unable to reach the main fire point on the slopes of Mount Bromo, where the incline is as steep as 80 degrees.

“Ground firefighting teams cannot reach the location, for the safety of personnel in the field,” he said.

Despite facing various challenges on the ground, Suharyanto said he remained optimistic that the mitigation scheme in place, including weather modification operations, would help bring the fire in the Mount Bromo TNBTS area under full control soon.

Weather modification operations involve seeding clouds with salt, or sodium chloride (NaCl), using specialized aircraft based on scientific data, to increase the potential for rainfall.

He expressed hope that the operation could be carried out within the next few days so the dry land could be sufficiently soaked, making it harder for the fire to reignite from wind gusts.

“According to the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), there is potential for rain clouds on August 14-16. If that potential is confirmed, BNPB will immediately carry out weather modification operations to optimize rainfall in the affected area,” he said.