Emergency Response to Jatiwaringin Landfill Fire Officially Ends

The emergency response status for the fire at the Jatiwaringin landfill in Mauk District, Tangerang Regency, Banten, ended on Tuesday (14/7). A task force for handling the fire will remain on standby to anticipate the potential emergence of new hotspots during the dry season. The emergency status was established through Tangerang Regent Decree Number 609, which was in effect from 1 to 14 July 2026, following a major blaze that scorched approximately 15 hectares of the landfill area. Tangerang Regent Maesyal Rasyid stated that his administration is not immediately halting all handling efforts despite the emergency status ending. Instead, the incident management is entering a transition period focusing on mitigation measures to prevent similar fires from recurring. “Regarding the emergency status, I received input from the Ministry of Forestry and the Ministry of Environment that today is the last day, and tomorrow it can likely be lifted. But with the note that mitigation continues to be carried out,” said Maesyal. According to Maesyal, a number of preventive measures have been prepared, including continuing the cooling process of the burned area, constructing water reservoirs and tanks in the landfill zone, providing portable water pumps, building special access routes for fire engines, and utilising thermal drones to detect hotspots within the waste piles. Additionally, the fire handling task force formed during the emergency response period will be maintained. This step is taken as a precaution against the dry season, which is predicted to last longer. “This has been mutually agreed upon because this dry season is predicted to be long,” he said. Based on Regent Decree Number 609, the task force structure is led by the Head of the Tangerang Regency Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), while the Regional Secretary acts as the responsible official. Not only focusing on fire prevention, the Tangerang Regency Government has also requested the Health Office to continue monitoring the health conditions of residents around the Jatiwaringin landfill who were previously affected by the fire smoke. “This evaluation is also to design the transitional efforts that must be carried out by all parties, including the local government, in this case the BPBD along with the Environmental Office and related regional apparatus organisations,” he explained. The fire at the Jatiwaringin landfill started on 30 June 2026 and burned around 15 hectares of land. The fire was suspected to have been triggered by hot weather igniting methane gas within the waste piles. Although the flames have been completely extinguished, the cooling process is still ongoing to prevent hotspots from re-emerging.