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View all search resultsBlazes engulf two landfills in Central and East Java
The continued reliance on open dumping has been linked to a series of environmental and safety incidents in recent years. At least 43 landfills across Indonesia experienced major fires between January and early October.
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An aerial view shows a fire burning piles of garbage at the Degayu landfill in Pekalongan, Central Java, on Nov. 1, 2026. A joint team comprising firefighters, military and police personnel, and volunteers deployed seven fire trucks to extinguish the blaze, which engulfed waste piles in the southern and eastern sections of the landfill. (Antara Foto/Harviyan Perdana Putra)
M
assive fires have engulfed two separate landfills in Central and East Java, adding to a series of waste-site blazes across Indonesia this year as the dry season intensifies.
At Degayu landfill in Pekalongan, Central Java, a fire erupted on Sunday, burning an estimated 1 hectare of the 5.8-ha site and sending thick plumes of smoke over nearby communities.
The flames spread along waste mounds, some rising as high as 25 meters, in the eastern and southern sections of the landfill.
Six fire trucks were deployed to tackle the blaze, with support from the police Mobile Brigade and firefighting teams from the neighboring regencies of Batang and Pemalang.
By Monday morning, firefighters had extinguished the flames and begun cooling the waste mound to prevent further flare-ups, said Falentino Eka Laksana Putra, head of prevention and public information at Pekalongan's Fire and Public Order Agency.
"The fire has been extinguished based on our observations, but the site must be monitored throughout the day as heat trapped beneath the surface of the rubbish could cause the fire to reignite even after visible flames have disappeared. We are now carrying out cooling operations," Eka said on Monday.
Eka added that firefighters were taking care not to use excessive amounts of water, which could destabilize the towering piles of rubbish and surrounding soil, potentially triggering landslides and putting emergency personnel at risk.
