Garut Regency Declares Emergency Response to Pasirbajing Landfill Fire

Garut (ANTARA) – The Garut Regency Government in West Java has declared an emergency response to the fire at Pasirbajing Final Disposal Site (TPA), deploying personnel and vehicles to speed up firefighting over the next 14 days.

“The status of Pasirbajing landfill has been raised to emergency response. Today we will extinguish the fire that is still spreading across the site,” said Usep Basuki Eko, head of the Garut Regency Fire and Rescue Service, in Garut on Sunday.

His agency, together with the Garut Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), Environmental Agency (DLH), Disaster Preparedness Cadets (Tagana), the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI), the military and police, has held a coordination meeting to manage the fire at Pasirbajing landfill.

The fire has been burning for several days and had not yet been extinguished, he said, prompting all relevant agencies to be mobilised to speed up the response during the emergency period.

A total of 27 joint personnel, supported by a unit from the West Java Police Mobile Brigade Corps, have been deployed to spread out across the site and fight the fire.

The emergency response will remain in force for 14 days, although officials are aiming to put out the fire within 10 days.

“We have set a 14-day emergency response period and are targeting to extinguish the fire within the next 10 days, but hopefully it can be dealt with in the next few days,” Usep said.

Fire engines are continuing to spray water in alternating shifts to prevent the flames from spreading further.

There have been several fires at Pasirbajing landfill during the dry season. Joint teams have extinguished the flames each time, but fires have broken out again several days later.

Usep said his personnel had stepped up their readiness to respond to fires during the dry season. “We are on standby 24 hours a day, especially during the dry season when the risk of fires is high,” he said.