Forestry Ministry deploys Manggala Agni to accelerate firefighting at Jatiwaringin landfill

The Ministry of Forestry (Kemenhut) has deployed 30 Manggala Agni personnel to accelerate the extinguishing of a fire at the Jatiwaringin Final Processing Site (TPA) in Tangerang Regency, which is still ongoing. Director General of Forestry Law Enforcement at Kemenhut, Dwi Januanto Nugroho, stated that the deployment of Manggala Agni is a follow-up to a request for firefighting assistance from the Ministry of Environment (LH) and demonstrates Kemenhut’s commitment to supporting the handling of fires as a source of greenhouse gas emissions, together with local government and related agencies. “As part of the government, Kemenhut has resources and experience in handling fires, such as during fire incidents at several landfills in 2023. At that time, Manggala Agni successfully helped extinguish a fire at the Rawa Kucing landfill in Tangerang City,” said Dwi in Jakarta on Saturday. Dwi added that this experience is an important asset in implementing firefighting strategies at landfills, which have different characteristics from forest and land fires, particularly due to waste piles that generate heat and methane gas. Meanwhile, Director of Forest Fire Control at Kemenhut, Thomas Nifinluri, stated that the deployed Manggala Agni personnel are fully trained and equipped with facilities and infrastructure to accelerate firefighting in the landfill area. “As an initial step, the Manggala Agni team has conducted field assessments, area monitoring and coordination with BNPB, BPBD and the Tangerang Regency Fire Department, the Ministry of Environment, the military and the police regarding the operational firefighting strategy to be implemented,” said Thomas. In carrying out effective operations, Manggala Agni will implement the 5M handling strategy, namely Smoke Management, Water Management, Human Resources Management, Facilities and Infrastructure Management, and Logistics Management. Thomas received reports from the field that the estimated area affected by the fire is around 13 hectares, based on data from the Jatiwaringin landfill management. Conditions on site still show thick smoke, so firefighting operations continue intensively together with all elements from the agencies involved.