The wildfire at Mount Bromo in Indonesia has been substantially contained, but the smoke has forced school closures.

The volcanic scenery of Mount Bromo, one of Indonesia’s most well-known attractions, is in the affected region and has been blocked while firefighters work.

MOUNT BROMO, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian firefighters have mainly controlled a wildfire that has charred a wide portion of a national park on the main island of Java, but they are still battling numerous residual hot spots in the famous tourist attraction, authorities said.

The fire, which began last week, had impacted nearly 900 hectares (2,224 acres) of the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park as of Tuesday, after large areas of dry grassland, vegetation, and protected edelweiss flowers burned in 36 hot spots, according to Rudijanta Tjahja Nugraha, the park’s manager in East Java province.

Mount Bromo, one of Indonesia’s most well-known attractions, is in the impacted region and has been closed as firefighters battle to keep the fire from expanding into the conservation zone.

As of Tuesday, active hot spots remained in two locations within the park: Puncak 30, a popular viewpoint for tourists visiting Mount Bromo’s volcanic landscape, and Dengklek, where the volcano monitoring post is located, according to Suharyanto, the head of the National Disaster Management Agency, or BNPB.

“We expect the two remaining hotspots to be extinguished by Friday,” said Suharyanto, who, like many Indonesians, goes by one name, during a visit to Mount Bromo on Tuesday. “That would allow us to redeploy two of the three water-bombing helicopters to help fight forest fires that are also burning in other areas.”

Teams have been striving to avert flare-ups both on the ground and thru airborne operations, according to Nugraha.

“We are not only trying to put out the fire, but also ensuring it is completely extinguished and does not reemerge,” he stated.

During the dry season, Indonesia is dealing with an increasingly severe wildfire situation. The BNPB said that about 48,900 hectares (121,000 acres) of peatland had burnt across six fire-prone provinces as of Monday, with West Kalimantan province on Borneo island being the worst impacted.

The Education and Cultural Office of Pontianak, the provincial capital of West Kalimantan, ordered schools to cease in-person sessions on Monday after air quality worsened to unsafe levels and health officials reported an increase in respiratory diseases.

The Indonesian government has increased firefighting efforts across the Sumatra and Borneo islands, deploying over 35 aircraft, including water-bombing helicopters and surveillance planes.

“Aerial operations are supporting ground operations which are especially critical in peatland areas,” Suharyanto added. “Because peat fires can continue smoldering underground long after surface flames disappear and can reignite if not fully extinguished.”

Peatland fires produce dense smoke, which contributes to harmful haze, lowering air quality and raising health risks in impacted areas, including neighboring nations, he added.

Forest and peat fires in Indonesia have caused tensions with neighboring nations.

According to the BNPB, satellite data shows a cloud of wildfire smoke spreading from West Kalimantan into neighboring Malaysia on numerous days this month.

Haze has deteriorated in Malaysia’s Sarawak state, which borders Indonesia’s Kalimantan province on Borneo. According to Malaysia’s Department of Environment’s air pollution index, the number of places in Sarawak with bad air quality increased to 11 early Tuesday. Sarawak’s government ordered schools in such districts to suspend outside activities.