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Islands in focus: Mount Merbabu closed due to fire
BOYOLALI: All hiking trails to the peak of Mount Merbabu in Central Java have been closed because of savanna fires that started burning on Wednesday
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OYOLALI: All hiking trails to the peak of Mount Merbabu in Central Java have been closed because of savanna fires that started burning on Wednesday.
According to the head of data, information and public relations at the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) in Purwo Nugroho, there were initially 11 separate fires on Mt. Merbabu on Wednesday afternoon, spread across a 25-hectare area. At dawn on Friday, the fires had reportedly spread farther.
Mount Merbabu National Park Conservation Center officer Kurniawan Fajar Prasetyo said on Friday morning that park management was preparing to battle fires at four of the hot spots.
'We decided that all hiking trails to the peak are to be closed as of Thursday evening,' said Kurniawan.
On Thursday evening, 25 climbers that had already been on the mountain for three days were forced to come down.
Rino Mahardika, an officer at the search and rescue (SAR) team post, said that the fires could only be extinguished during the day because of their locations on the sides of cliffs.
