Firefighting Operation at Jatiwaringin Landfill Declared 100 Percent Complete

The Ministry of Forestry (Kemenhut) has stated that the firefighting operation at the Jatiwaringin Final Disposal Site (TPA) in Tangerang Regency was successfully completed 100 percent after lasting eight days, from 3 to 10 July 2026. The success is cited as important evidence of the necessity of cross-sector collaboration in handling fires. Deputy Minister of Forestry Rohmat Marzuki expressed appreciation for the Manggala Agni personnel and the Law Enforcement (Gakkum) ranks of the Ministry of Forestry involved in the operation. According to him, the success of the extinguishing effort was also inseparable from the support of the Ministry of Environment (KLH), the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), the Tangerang Regency Government, as well as the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) and the Indonesian National Police (Polri). ‘Handling forest and land fires requires collaboration from all parties, and there must be no sectoral ego,’ Rohmat said on Wednesday (15/7). He stated that the handling of the fire at the Jatiwaringin TPA was an implementation of the directive from Minister of Forestry Raja Juli Antoni, who had previously emphasised the importance of cross-sector cooperation in controlling forest and land fires (karhutla). In the operation, a total of 41 Manggala Agni personnel from the Regional Forest and Land Fire Control Centre (Dalkarhutla) for Java, Bali, Nusa Tenggara, and Sulawesi were deployed to the location. Of the total TPA area of approximately 33 hectares, the area affected by the fire was estimated to have reached 15 hectares. During the extinguishing process, officers used approximately 9.4 million litres of water to soak and extinguish the hotspots. The Ministry of Forestry explained that the operation’s success was supported by the application of 5M management, encompassing area and smoke management through periodic mapping, water source management, human resource arrangement, optimisation of facilities and infrastructure, and fulfilment of personnel logistics needs. The team also applied special handling methods considering that the characteristics of fires in waste piles differ from those of peatland fires. During the operation, officers faced various obstacles, ranging from thick smoke and methane gas to hose damage caused by glass shards. Despite this, all personnel were reported to have completed their duties safely and were declared healthy based on post-operation medical examination results. Referring to several TPA fire incidents in 2023 and a BMKG prediction that the peak of this year’s dry season will occur in August, the Ministry of Forestry stated it will strengthen preventive measures. The Ministry of Forestry, together with the Ministry of Environment, will enhance coordination to map TPAs in various regions as an effort to anticipate potential fires during the dry season.