Thick black smoke still billowing from burning plastic warehouse in Cengkareng

Thick black smoke continued to billow from the burning plastic warehouse on Jalan Peternakan Raya, Gang Semut, Kapuk, Cengkareng, West Jakarta, on Tuesday, even though the fire had been localised since the blaze began on Monday afternoon. Firefighters were still battling to extinguish embers in the pile of plastic material that was difficult for water to reach. The condition of the building, which has been on fire since Monday at 14:30 WIB, indicates embers remain inside the plastic material stack, even though the fireline has been localised. Head of Operations Section of the West Jakarta Fire and Rescue Sub-Department (Gulkarmat) Syaiful Kahfi confirmed that firefighting was hampered by the large amount of plastic material inside the warehouse. “The pile of goods is large, so we are still working on it. Because the fire is plastic, spraying does not reach down to the bottom,” he said at the scene on Tuesday morning. At the scene, the front yard of the warehouse was wet with firefighting water and littered with rubble from collapsed buildings. Meanwhile, the roof and walls on the side of the warehouse appeared to have collapsed. At least 16 fire engines remained on standby at the scene. A Bronto Skylift fleet was deployed at the scene to spray water from above onto the collapse points and the remaining plastic material. Several times, the fire was extinguished and the smoke gradually dissipated, but it always reignited, producing a plume of thick black smoke repeatedly.