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Methane suspected cause of Bekasi landfill fire: Official
A platoon commander from the Bekasi Fire Department says that methane is the suspected cause of the fire that broke out on Sunday afternoon, which has now been extinguished.
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Firefighters and a water bomber helicopter work on Oct. 23, 2023 to extinguish a massive blaze that engulfed the Rawa Kucing landfill in Tangerang, Banten. (Antara/Sulthony Hasanuddin)
M
ethane is believed to be the cause of the fire that broke out on Sunday in Zone II of the Bantargebang Integrated Waste Disposal Site (TPST) in Bekasi, West Java, according to a local fire official.
"It is suspected that the fire originated from methane that ignited due to hot weather," said Nawawi Ismail, Platoon 3 commander of the Bekasi Fire Department’s Company B.
Ismail said firefighters had managed to subdue the blaze in Zone II of the Bantargebang landfill before it had spread to Zone I.
The fire started at the top of the waste mound in Zone II and was finally extinguished at around 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, approximately 1.5 hours after the fire broke out. Firefighters used the direct attack method to ensure that all sparks or embers were extinguished to prevent reignition.
"The exact span of the burned is not yet known, but it is estimated to be more than 10 hectares in total. The fire was confined to just this one waste mound [in Zone II]," said Ismail.
The fire was declared under control on Sunday afternoon, though cooling measures were ongoing, he added.
"We are maximizing cooling efforts by continuing to [hose down] the waste mound so it is damp all the way [to the bottom]. This is to prepare for the hot weather expected tomorrow," Ismail said.
Observations at the Bantargebang landfill on Sunday afternoon found that the smoke had diminished, even though it was thick in some areas, particularly over the waste mound in front of the waste-to-energy plant.
