Fire at Jember's Pakusari Landfill Extinguished, Suspected Caused by Cigarette Butt

A fire occurred at the Pakusari landfill in Jember Regency, East Java, suspected to have been caused by a carelessly discarded cigarette butt. “A land fire has occurred in the waste disposal area of the Pakusari landfill,” said landfill officer Mohammad Holik on Saturday.

According to Holik, officers on duty moved quickly to extinguish the flames because residential areas are located not far from the waste processing site. “We also contacted the fire department to help put out the fire, which continued to spread due to strong winds and the dry season,” he said.

Meanwhile, Head of the Jember Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) Edy Budi Susilo confirmed that his agency had received a report about the fire at the Pakusari landfill. “The land fire at the landfill is estimated to have covered around 500 square metres,” Edy stated.

He explained that the fire was suspected to have originated from a cigarette butt that was not completely extinguished and was fanned by strong winds at the location during the dry season. “The wind in the area was quite strong, causing the fire to grow and spread to the landfill area,” he said.

Firefighters and the BPBD Jember team carried out complete extinguishing and cooling operations to ensure the embers were fully out, finally succeeding by late afternoon. “We also distributed clean water around the landfill area and handed out masks to local residents,” he added.

Edy urged the public not to carelessly discard cigarette butts, as they can trigger fires in open land.