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Dry season sparks fires engulfing Central, West Java landfills
Indonesia is expecting to see more fires during this year’s dry season, which is forecast to be longer and drier due to the El Niño weather system.
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A firefighter checks a fire that continues to burn a mountain of trash at Putri Cempo landfill in Surakarta, Central Java, on Sept. 19, 2023. The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has deployed helicopters to conduct waterbombing to help put out the fire. (Antara/Mohammad Ayudha)
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everal cities in Central and West Java have been struggling to put out fires engulfing their landfills, with fires triggered by the hot temperature of this year’s prolonged, El Niño-induced dry season.
The Putri Cempo landfill in Surakarta, Central Java was the latest, with the fire first breaking out on Saturday. It has so far burned 2 hectares (ha) of the mountains of trash.
Authorities suspect that the fire was triggered by the high temperatures experienced during the prolonged dry weather. The Central Java weather station previously issued a drought warning for several cities and regencies in the province, including Surakarta.
“Our analysis for now shows that the high temperature sparked the methane gas formed by the mountain of trash,” said Surakarta Environment Agency head Kristiana Hariyanti, as quoted by kompas.com.
Methane, a flammable gas, is often found in landfill sites as the natural byproduct of the decomposition of organic waste, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Firefighters are still struggling to put out the fire in the 17-ha landfill. Changing wind directions and the vast pile of flammable waste have caused the fire to spread quickly, hindering the extinguishing efforts, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).
