Firefighters and Basarnas Makassar (the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency's Makassar office) successfully evacuated 68 hikers from Mount Saukang, Maros Regency, South Sulawesi, after a fire broke out in the forest and land on the mountain on Sunday night. According to M. Ilham Halim Syah, Infrastructure and Information Chief of Maros Fire Department, the fire was first reported at around 20.12 WITA (Western Indonesia Time).
At the time of the incident, Mount Saukang was busy with hikers. Based on monitoring post data, there were 337 hikers in the area, with 68 people still on the mountain when the fire broke out. "All hikers were evacuated when the fire occurred. Including those who were temporarily trapped, all of them were evacuated down to the post," said Ilham.
The evacuation process resulted in three female hikers requiring medical treatment. Two experienced shortness of breath, while one hiker suffered a sprained ankle. The three hikers received treatment from a joint team.
Firefighting efforts involved 21 personnel with two vehicle fleets from various units including Maros Fire Department, Basarnas, Tompobulu Military Sub-district Command, Tompobulu Police Station, Tompobulu Health Centre, Mapala UMI, Saukang Explorer, and local residents. Fire trucks could only reach the foot of the mountain, so firefighting efforts in the upper areas were conducted manually using jet shutters or backpack pumps.
The area management is continuing firefighting and monitoring operations at Mount Saukang. The extent of the burned area is still being assessed.
