A dramatic fire swept across several hills on a small island in Indonesia's Komodo National Park this week. The park, a popular tourist destination, is made up of three large islands and more than 20 smaller ones and is home to the Komodo dragon, the world's largest lizard.
Officials said the island is uninhabited and no wildlife or tourists were hurt in the blaze, which was extinguished after about eight hours.
Head of Komodo National Park Budi Kurniawan said that the fire occurred on forest land in Gili Lawa Darat, which is part of the Komodo National Park in West Manggarai Regency. "The fire in 10 hectares land does not interfere with the living habitat of Komodo dragon, because the fire was on Gili Lawa, which is a tourist area," Budi said on Friday, August 3, 2018.
The fire occurred on Wednesday night, August 1, 2018. Officers were immediately deployed to extinguish the fire that spread in the savanna. The fire was finally extinguished on the early hours of Thursday, August 2, 2018.
"It is suspected that the fire in Komodo National Park area was caused by cigarette butts left by the irresponsible visitors," Budi said.