INDONESIA intensified efforts today to combat a growing number of wildfires across the archipelago, officials said.

Authorities continued to deploy helicopters today, with hundreds of firefighters and emergency personnel trying to battle the blazes as they spread through a popular East Java park and peatlands in Sumatra.

East Java authorities said the largest blaze is burning in Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park in East Java province, where about 1,836 acres have been scorched.

Dry weather and strengthening El Nino conditions raised the risk of more forest and land fires during the peak dry season, Indonesia’s Forestry Ministry said in a statement at the weekend.

It said the fire has burned large areas of dry grassland, vegetation and protected edelweiss flowers as flames have spread to the Penanjakan area, a popular viewpoint for tourists visiting Mount Bromo, one of Indonesia’s best-known attractions.

No injuries or evacuations have been reported.

“We continue to co-ordinate efforts to address and anticipate forest and land fires,” said Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni.

Meanwhile, the heatwaves in Western Europe this summer toppled an average temperature record for the June-July period set in 2022, according to the European climate agency Copernicus.

The extreme heat began in May and has contributed to major wildfires, prolonged drought and new national temperature records across the region, as well as thousands of projected heat-related deaths.

Globally, so far this is the third-hottest year, behind 2024 and 2025, climate statistics show.

In western Europe, the average temperature record for the June-July period hit 21°C, Copernicus said.

Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, said: “This is a clear example of how climate change is intensifying heat extremes, with heat and drought increasingly reinforcing one another.”