BNPB: Wildfire at Gunung Picung, Cianjur, Under Control

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has stated that the forest and land fire (karhutla) which struck the hilly area of Gunung Picung, Cianjur Regency, West Java, has been successfully extinguished and is now under control. Acting Head of the BNPB Disaster Data, Information and Communication Centre, Dodi Yuleova, in Jakarta on Wednesday, said that the object which burned was an area of land vegetated with dry reeds, allowing the fire to spread rapidly due to wind gusts. “The incident occurred in the hilly area of Gunung Picung, precisely on land overgrown with reeds in Cikondang Village, Cibeber District,” said Dodi Yuleova. He explained that it is not yet known exactly what triggered the fire, before the flames were first detected on Monday evening around 5.30 p.m. Western Indonesian Time, quickly spreading to burn three hectares of land in the hilly area. A joint team consisting of the Cianjur Regency Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), the Cianjur Fire Department, the Cibeber Police, and the local community was deployed to conduct ground-based firefighting operations in the area known as a tourist village. “Thanks to integrated handling in the field, efforts to localise the fire hotspots ran effectively so that the fire did not spread to residential areas or the surrounding vicinity,” he said. Dodi confirmed that the emergency response in the field has been completed and the fire location is confirmed safe, remaining under the monitoring of officers to ensure it is free from the potential of subsequent fire spread. “The latest condition is that the fire has been declared completely extinguished,” he stated.