Forest and Land Fire Threat in West Bandung Increases During Extreme Dry Season, Three Incidents in a Week

The intensity of forest and land fires in West Bandung Regency (KBB), West Java, has slightly increased during this year’s dry season. There have been three incidents of garden and other land fires within a week.

“The potential for land and forest fires has indeed increased during this dry season. There were three incidents last week,” said the Head of the West Bandung Fire and Rescue Service, Siti Aminah Anshoriah, when confirmed on Wednesday (1/7/2026).

The latest incident occurred on Tuesday (30/6/2026) afternoon, where a garden in Kampung Nantug, RT 01/07, Baranangsiang Village, Cipongkor District, caught fire. The cause of the fire is not yet known. However, the heat combined with wind caused the dry reeds, grass, and leaves in the garden to allow the fire to spread more quickly.

“The total area is around 1,500 square metres, and 1,000 square metres were burned. What burned were dry reeds and leaves,” said Siti.

She revealed that various causes make land and forest fires more prone to occur during the extreme dry season resulting from this year’s El Niño phenomenon. These include abandoned land burning and cigarette butts, coupled with strong winds, which make the potential for fires even higher.

“The cause could be someone discarding a cigarette butt, or someone burning rubbish and then leaving it while there is a strong wind. So it becomes easier to ignite, especially with dry reeds or leaves,” she explained.

Therefore, her department is urging the public to increase their vigilance against the risk of fire as the dry season sets in. It is not only forest and land fires; the dry weather conditions and strong winds also trigger high vulnerability in residential areas and even waste disposal sites.

“So the public must be more careful during this dry season because fire does not choose its place. A little negligence can cause a fire,” said Siti.