Land Fires Increase, Purwakarta Fire Department Faces Fleet Damage and Water Crisis

The handling of forest, land, and residential fires in Purwakarta Regency, West Java, is facing severe challenges with the arrival of the dry season. The local Fire and Rescue Service (Disdamkarmat) has reported a number of technical obstacles that are hindering the effectiveness of firefighting operations in the field.

Head of the Purwakarta Regency Disdamkarmat, Juddy Herdiana, revealed that limited fleet availability is the main issue. Currently, out of a total of eight units owned, only six are operational. The other two units are damaged and cannot be used for emergency services.

In addition to fleet problems, the lack of water sources at incident locations often slows down the extinguishing process. To work around this, the Fire Department is cooperating with the Regional Drinking Water Company (Perumda Air Minum) to utilise city hydrants at several strategic points.

“The handling of forest and land fires is carried out through coordination with the Purwakarta Regency Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD). The BPBD has authority in disaster reporting and management, while the Fire Department is tasked with carrying out technical firefighting in the field,” said Juddy Herdiana on Friday (17/7).

Despite facing limited personnel and infrastructure, Juddy stressed that his party remains on standby 24 hours a day to serve the community. Every emergency report will be immediately followed up regardless of the location of the incident.

Based on Disdamkarmat data, residential houses still dominate the objects of fire throughout this year. However, since the start of the dry season, the fire trend has begun to shift to dry land and easily flammable weeds.

Purwakarta District is recorded as the area with the highest frequency of fire incidents. This is caused by the high population density, which is directly proportional to the greater potential risk of fire compared to other areas in Purwakarta Regency.