Forest and Land Fires Burn 833 Hectares in West Java

West Java’s Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) said forest and land fires had affected 833.78 hectares across the province by 13 October 2026. Sumedang Regency recorded the largest affected area, at 141 hectares.

Ciamis Regency ranked second, reporting 55 incidents across 86.47 hectares, followed by Subang Regency, with 49 incidents affecting 113.63 hectares. Sukabumi Regency recorded 38 forest and land fires across 71.07 hectares.

Banjar City experienced 33 incidents across 45.19 hectares, while Bandung Regency recorded 32 incidents affecting 36.45 hectares. The fires also spread to a landfill in Garut.

Teten Ali Mulku Engkun, head of the West Java BPBD, said the local government had declared a 14-day emergency response for the fire in Garut. He said the landfill fire began as a land fire.

Teten explained that fires at landfills behave differently from ordinary land fires. Flames visible on the surface do not necessarily mean the fire has been fully extinguished.

He said fires can persist beneath piles of waste and flare up again even after surface flames have been put out. “Fire beneath the surface sometimes continues to burn even when the flames above have been extinguished. The fire can then reappear because of methane gas,” he said on Tuesday (14 October 2026).

He said one impact that needed to be anticipated was acute respiratory infection (ARI). For that reason, firefighting efforts could not focus solely on extinguishing visible surface flames.

“The impact is also related to health, such as acute respiratory infection (ARI). These are the kinds of issues that need to be anticipated,” he said.