Fire near Indonesia's Mount Bromo national park extinguished 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.

Here are some details:

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.

-Reporting by Ananda Teresia; Editing by John Mair/Reuters