Fourth Day, Fire at Illegal Waringinkurung Landfill Still Not Extinguished

The waste fire at the illegal landfill in Waringinkurung, Serang Regency, Banten, has entered its fourth day. Police say extinguishing efforts may still require around two more days because there are still hotspots that have not been put out.

“It is still in progress, likely one to two more days before it is finished,” said Waringinkurung Police Chief Inspector Hari Purwanto on Monday (31/8/2026).

According to Hari, officers have deployed heavy excavator equipment to tackle the fire so that smoke is no longer as thick as before.

“The smoke has started to decrease, only a few spots remain. Because the heavy equipment has been working since yesterday,” said Hari.

Hari said there is no evacuation process for residents around the Waringinkurung landfill. He has also coordinated with the local community health centre.

“Thank God residents have no problems. And no one has been evacuated. We have coordinated with the community health centre and there are also no patients seeking treatment because of the smoke,” said Hari.

As previously reported, the fire in Waringinkurung occurred on Friday night (28/8/2026), at around 6.00 pm local time. To deal with the incident, officers mobilised heavy equipment.

Four fire engines and one unit of heavy equipment were deployed to the location.

“As for the current condition, large flames are confirmed to be gone. Only the smoke has not fully cleared, because the fire is beneath the surface of the waste, under the piles, so it is difficult to extinguish,” said Waringinkurung Police Chief Inspector Hari Purwanto when contacted on Sunday (30/8).

“For handling efforts, we have coordinated with the subdistrict leadership forum that we need heavy equipment, and thank God the heavy equipment has been deployed today. One excavator has been deployed today and the excavator operator has coordinated with the fire department,” he added.

Hari explained that the heavy equipment is being used to break up the waste piles so that the fire beneath them can be extinguished more easily. Hari said his team is still trying to add more heavy equipment to make extinguishing efforts easier.

“So the function of the heavy equipment is to break up or open the waste piles, so that the fire department can extinguish the fire right at the hotspot. So for the technical details, we will wait for direction from the fire department,” said Hari.