Initial UGM Team Suspicions on Fire Terror at Sleman House: Chicken Waste

“Our temporary conclusion is that the emergence of fire is associated with hydrogen gas,” stated the head of the PKPE FT UGM team, Prof Alva Edy Tontowi, in a written statement received on Thursday (4/6/2026). Alva mentioned that the emergence of hydrogen gas is strongly suspected to originate from chicken slaughtering waste. It is known that Mutfiana’s family runs a chicken slaughtering business attached to the house experiencing the mysterious fire phenomenon. “The hydrogen gas is strongly suspected to come from the fermentation process of organic chicken slaughtering waste,” he said. In addition, the team also suspects that together with the hydrogen gas, there is another gas that is more easily flammable at room temperature, namely phosphine gas (PH3). This phosphine is thought to be formed from phosphate-rich materials such as bones and hard parts of chicken feathers. “Unfortunately, this phosphine gas is not easily detected and will burn out completely if it meets oxygen. It is very possible that this phosphine gas triggered the ignition of the hydrogen gas that emerged simultaneously. However, this still needs to be investigated more deeply,” he stated. Alva explained that the cross-disciplinary team at UGM’s Faculty of Engineering, during an initial observation on Saturday (30/5), obtained information from the Gegana unit of the Yogyakarta Regional Police that methane gas (CH4) was detected at the point where the fire appeared. However, measurements using a thermal camera did not show a significant temperature anomaly. “The thermal camera brought by the UGM team indicated a temperature anomaly at the location where the fire appeared, but it was not significant, only ranging up to 29⁰C. This means the temperature in the house area and its surroundings was still within the ambient temperature range and no high anomaly was found,” Alva said.