Mountains of rubbish from the Putri Cempo landfill in Surakarta caught fire

The mountain of rubbish at the Putri Cempo landfill, Surakarta City, Central Java, caught fire, Saturday (16/9/2023). The burned area is estimated to be 2 hectares. Hot weather is thought to be the cause of the fire.

The following article was translated using both Microsoft Azure Open AI and Google Translation AI. The original article can be found in Gunungan Sampah TPA Putri Cempo di Surakarta Terbakar

KOMPAS/NINO CITRA ANUGRAHANTO

Mountains of burning garbage at Putri Cempo waste disposal site in Surakarta, Central Java, on Saturday (16/9/2023).

SURAKARTA, KOMPAS - A fire burned through a mountain of garbage at the Putri Cempo landfill in the city of Surakarta, Central Java on Saturday (16/9/2023). The affected area was estimated to be 2 hectares. The exact cause of the fire is still unknown, but the hot weather is suspected to have triggered it.

Based on Kompas's monitoring, as of Saturday at 17.00, fires were still burning in the mountains of rubbish on the east side or Block B of the Putri Cempo TPA. Plumes of white smoke appeared to rise high. Fire trucks and water tankers took turns entering the area.

A number of officers painstakingly climbed the mountain of trash to spray the still-burning area. From behind the smoke, a faint outline of a section of the burnt garbage pile could be seen after the officers successfully extinguished the fire.

KOMPAS/NINO CITRA ANUGRAHANTO

Officials are trying to extinguish the flames that have emerged on a towering pile of garbage at TPA Putri Cempo in Surakarta, Central Java, on Saturday (16/9/2023).

Head of Fire Extinguishing and Safety Division of Surakarta City Fire Department, Suratman, reported that information on the emergence of a fire point was received around 12:30 pm. He stated that the cause of the fire could not be determined yet. This is because the fire was only known after the appearance of smoke.

"Now we are trying to localize the fire. Thank God, some of it has been extinguished. However, this is a pile of garbage. There may be embers that have entered the pile. This means that it may be somewhat difficult to extinguish." said Suratman.

Also read: Sarimukti TPA Closed Due to Fire, Bandung Threatened by Accumulation of Garbage

On the other hand, Suratman also highlighted the contour of the fire location, which resembles a mountain. The hotspots that must be extinguished are located on the slopes or cliff sides of mountains of rubbish which are quite difficult to reach. In fact, the hot weather is said to have contributed to the expansion of the fire's spread.

There are eight units of fire trucks owned by the Surakarta Fire Department that were deployed to handle the incident. Requests for assistance were also conveyed to neighboring fire departments in areas such as Karanganyar, Boyolali, Sragen, and Sukoharjo.

KOMPAS/NINO CITRA ANUGRAHANTO

Officials are trying to extinguish the flames that have emerged on a towering pile of garbage at TPA Putri Cempo in Surakarta, Central Java, on Saturday (16/9/2023).

In addition, the water tanker truck owned by volunteers and local disaster management organizations were deployed to deliver water supplies in order to extinguish the fire.

"We cannot predict how long this blackout will last. Similar incidents occurred in 2019 and it took about a week to resolve. The worst part lasted for three days, while the rest was just the cooling process," said Suratman.

Also read: Bandung City Trash Piles After Sarimukti Landfill Fire Reaches 8,000 Tons

There may be embers that have entered the pile. This would make extinguishing it more difficult.

Head of the Surakarta City Environmental Agency, Kristiana Hariyanti, reported that the burned land is estimated to be 2 hectares. She has also not been able to confirm the actual cause of the fire. However, she suspects that the hot weather may have triggered the burning of garbage in that location.

"For now, our analysis is that the fire was caused by a very high temperature. This then triggered the methane gas that had accumulated under the pile of garbage for so long, causing sparks to appear," said Kristiana.

KOMPAS/NINO CITRA ANUGRAHANTO

Officials are working to extinguish a fire that occurred on a towering pile of garbage at the Putri Cempo landfill in Surakarta, Central Java, on Saturday (16/9/2023).

Despite the fire, Kristiana stated that waste disposal activities do not need to be stopped. The community can still dispose of their waste as usual.

The Environmental Agency of Surakarta City has prepared an area on the south side of the Putri Cempo landfill site to be used as a temporary disposal site. The amount of waste generated daily is approximately 385 tons.

Also read: 1.5 hectares of land at the Kopi Luhur Cirebon TPA caught fire, treatment is still ongoing

In handling the fire, Kristiana also coordinated with other government agencies such as the Surakarta Health Department. This is needed as mitigation if later the smoke affects negatively the residents living around the landfill.

"There are two ambulance units that have been prepared. Earlier, the Surakarta City Health Office also moved quickly by sending masks, preparing oxygen, and also preparing early examinations in case there are complaints from residents," said Kristiana.