Jatiwaringin Landfill Fire Expands to 15 Hectares, 154 Tangerang Residents Suffer Respiratory Infections

The fire at the Jatiwaringin Final Processing Site (TPA) in Mauk District, Tangerang Regency, has expanded to cover an area of 15 hectares. Beyond material losses, the thick plumes of smoke rising from the mountains of waste have caused residents to contract acute respiratory infections (ISPA). The Tangerang Regency Health Office (Dinkes) reported that 154 residents have fallen ill with ISPA due to exposure to the fire’s smoke. Head of the Tangerang Regency Health Office, Hendra Tarmizi, stated that the majority of affected patients are from vulnerable groups. “There are 154 people, but all are receiving outpatient treatment and have been medicated. Most of the patients are toddlers and pregnant women living around the fire location,” Hendra said on Thursday (2/7/2026). He added that one pregnant woman had to be referred to hospital due to a fairly serious respiratory disorder. To manage the health impact, the Health Office has deployed 25 health workers across four medical posts around the TPA site. So far, the smoke has most severely affected residents in three sub-districts: Mauk, Rajeg, and Sukadiri. However, all community health centres (Puskesmas) across Tangerang Regency are now on alert to anticipate the smoke spreading to other areas depending on wind direction. Meanwhile, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) is intensifying firefighting operations to localise the flames. BNPB Director of Operations Control Coordination, Brigadier General TNI Djohan Darmawan, stated that they are implementing simultaneous ground and air firefighting strategies. On the ground, officers are creating special access routes or ‘breakthrough paths’ to allow fire engines to reach fire hotspots in the middle of the waste piles. Currently, 10 fire engines from various sectors have been deployed to the site. In addition to ground efforts, BNPB is maximising the use of two water-bombing helicopters to douse the flames from the air. This measure targets the fires at the peak of the waste mounds, which are difficult to reach with ground hoses. “We continue to optimise the firefighting efforts. This afternoon, both helicopters will conduct further water drops to minimise the remaining flames,” Djohan concluded.