Flares from pre-wedding photoshoot trigger second Bromo wildfire in a week

Local residents watch burning savanna at the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park from a distance in Lumajang, East Java, on Sep. 7, 2023. - Antara

JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network): A pre-wedding photoshoot that went wrong has ignited a large wildfire in Mount Bromo in East Java that has burned since Wednesday (Sept 6), forcing authorities to close the popular tourist destination to visitors.

Septi Eka Wardhani, an official with the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park, said the couple used a handheld flare for their pre-wedding photoshoot. This accidentally ignited dry grass in the savanna of the Bromo area, popularly known among tourists as Bukit Teletubbies (Teletubbies Hill).