Fire at Jatiwaringin Landfill Declared a State of Emergency as Flames Continue to Rage

The Tangerang Regency government has declared a state of emergency over the fire at the Jatiwaringin landfill in Mauk District, Tangerang Regency. The decision was made after the fire continued to burn for more than 24 hours, from Tuesday (30/6) at around 11:00 AM Western Indonesian Time until Wednesday (1/7) afternoon. Monitoring at the location on Wednesday afternoon showed flames still burning piles of rubbish at several points. Thick white smoke billowed high, disrupting visibility for motorists on roads around the landfill area. Dozens of firefighters are still battling to extinguish the blaze. Personnel have been deployed to several points to prevent the fire from spreading to other areas. Head of the Tangerang Regency Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), Achmad Taufik, said the emergency response status was imposed to accelerate firefighting efforts. ‘It has been declared a state of emergency,’ Taufik said. According to him, the status was established to enable faster coordination with the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) and to strengthen the handling of the impact on the community. Based on preliminary data, 52 people from 30 families have been evacuated to safer locations due to the thick smoke from the Jatiwaringin landfill fire. The BNPB has confirmed that the smoke has not affected flight operations at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. ‘Although the fire location is about 12 kilometres from the western end of the runway at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, flight operations are currently running normally and have not been affected,’ said BNPB Head Lt. Gen. Dr. Suharyanto on Wednesday (1/7). To speed up the extinguishing process, the BNPB has deployed two MI-8AMT water-bombing helicopters. Each helicopter has a capacity of carrying up to 4,000 litres of water, which will be dropped directly onto the fire hotspots in the landfill area. ‘We have brought in two water-bombing helicopters and, if necessary, will conduct weather modification operations,’ Suharyanto stressed. He said aerial support is required because some of the hotspots are located in piles of rubbish that are difficult for ground-based firefighters to reach. ‘We are making every effort to extinguish it immediately,’ Suharyanto said. The fire at the Jatiwaringin landfill started on Tuesday (30/6/2026) at around 11:00 AM Western Indonesian Time. As of Wednesday (1/7) afternoon, the fire had still not been extinguished, and firefighting efforts are ongoing.