152 climbers brought down from a burning mountain in Java
On Monday, 19 October, forest caught fire on the slopes of Sumbing in Central Java. Rescuers evacuated 152 climbers who were on the base-camp registers; by night the fire was still burning.
The report came in around 15:00 local time: the fire is on the Gajahmungkur approach, in the Kalikajar area, at roughly 2,500–2,709 metres. In the evening the base camp said 71 people were already safe and walking down. Later the Wonosobo disaster agency corrected the figure from the Garung and Gajahmungkur registration lists to 152. The burned area has not been measured. Work stopped overnight because the fire was spreading and the wind was strong. Firefighting is due to resume on Tuesday, 20 October, at 07:00.
Sources: detikJateng — 152 pendaki dievakuasi, Gunung Sumbing terbakarkumparan — hutan Gunung Sumbing terbakar, 152 pendaki via Wonosobo
Context
In everyday Indonesian, sumbing means a cleft lip. Kompas retells a local twin legend: the rim of Sumbing’s crater looks as if it has been bitten, and the neighbouring mountain took the name Sindoro. The pass between them is the road from Temanggung to Wonosobo.
The volcanology note quoted by the same Kompas article says Sumbing has one eruption in the written record, in 1730, which left a lava dome on the crater rim. The summit is 3,371 metres; in Central Java only Slamet is higher.