Plastic Waste Warehouse Catches Fire in Karawang; Five Fire Engines Deployed

Karawang (ANTARA) – The Karawang Regency Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) in West Java deployed five fire engines to extinguish a blaze at a plastic-waste warehouse beside an irrigation channel in Bengle village, Majalaya sub-district, Karawang.

“After receiving information about the fire on Monday afternoon, officers immediately headed to the scene,” Karawang BPBD chief Usep Supriatna said in Karawang on Monday.

He said five fire engines were deployed. However, officers arrived after the fire had grown and engulfed the waste-storage area.

According to Usep, the flames spread quickly because the materials inside the warehouse were highly flammable. Piles of plastic waste and wooden pallets hampered firefighting efforts.

“While extinguishing the fire at the plastic-waste warehouse, officers are alert to the risk of it spreading to other buildings,” Usep said.

The preliminary suspicion is that the fire, which destroyed the warehouse building, was triggered by grass being burned behind the warehouse. The flames spread from the grass to piles of wooden pallets and plastic waste in the warehouse area, and then to the warehouse building.

Usep said the agency could not yet confirm the cause of the fire, as it still needed to be investigated.