Four killed while fighting a fire in Indonesia — Al Jazeera

Four people were killed while fighting a forest fire in Bromo-Tengger-Semeru National Park in Indonesia’s East Java province. Two others suffered severe burns and are receiving treatment.

As Al Jazeera reports, the people were caught in the flames on Thursday. Indonesia’s Forestry Ministry did not name those killed, expressed condolences and noted the courage of workers, volunteers and local residents working on the fire lines.

Risks during firefighting

The ministry said that fighting forest and land fires is a high-risk operation. It stressed the need to monitor the spread of the fire and wind direction, keep evacuation routes ready, and assess conditions before and during operations.

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The islands of Sumatra and Borneo, located near Singapore and Malaysia, are suffering the most from the fires. Smoke from the fires has spread beyond Indonesia and covered neighbouring countries in haze.

Assistance from neighbouring countries

According to the ministry, satellite monitoring as of Thursday evening detected 799 high-confidence hotspots across the country, 427 more than the previous day. At the same time, the agency cautioned that such points do not equal the number of fires, as one blaze may be recorded as several hotspots.

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto approved accepting assistance from neighbouring countries, Foreign Minister Armanatha Nasir said, according to Reuters. Malaysia offered last month to send three helicopters, an aircraft and 52 personnel, while Singapore also said it was ready to help.