Sasak hamlet blaze raises alarm over indigenous tourism - Archipelago - The Jakarta Post

Indonesia

Archipelago

A massive fire has burned the popular tourist destination of Sade to the ground in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), leaving immeasurable cultural and personal loss in its wake.

Structures untouched by fire surround what was once the site of Sade on Aug. 23, 2026, a day after a blaze tore through the indigenous Sasak hamlet in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara. (Reuters/Stringer)

A massive fire has left the Sasak community of Sade hamlet, a popular destination in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), dealing with the loss of property and irreplaceable cultural artifacts, raising fresh concerns over how to protect indigenous settlements as tourism expands.The blaze, allegedly caused by an electrical fault, broke out at around 10:15 p.m. on Saturday, razing at least 125 homes and forcing more than 300 residents to flee their 5.5-hectare hamlet, according to the NTB Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD).