In Addition To Water Bombing, Weather Modification Prepared To Extinguish The West Bandung Sarimukti TPA Fire

West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil gave information regarding the Sarimukti TPA fire at Gedung Sate, Bandung City, Friday (25/8/2023). (ANTARA/HO West Java Provincial Government)

West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil stated that steps to extinguish the fire at the Sarimukti Final Disposal Site (TPA), West Bandung Regency, West Java were being carried out, including water bombings being prepared and weather engineering.

Kang Emil has coordinated with various parties, especially with the National SAR Agency (Basarnas), the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), to firefighters (damkar) for handling the Sarimukti TPA fire.

"Watter bombing by helicopter by Basarnas and BNPB is also in the process, for BMKG waiting for cloud seeds that are ready to move weather engineering from Banten to Sarimukti," Ridwan Kamil at Gedung Sate, Bandung City, reported by ANTARA, Friday, August 25.

Ridwan Kamil said that for handling on land, he had instructed firefighters (damkar) by providing chemical fluids to anticipate the dangers of methane gas below the surface of waste.

"On land there is a damkar whose water we will mix with the chemical liquid due to the fire, specifically there is a methane gas that exacerbated it," said Ridwan Kamil.

Regarding the handling of garbage that accumulated due to the impact of this fire, Ridwan Kamil ordered to look for temporary waste shelters not far from the TPA in the Sarimukti area, for reasons of community dynamics.

"Because if the area is not Sarimukti, there are dynamics with the community, it is even more complex, the distance is not too far away, so it is still in the zone called TPA," he said.

He also appealed to the public to be able to reduce waste production amidst the concerns of the fire that hit the Sarimukti TPA.

"I urge the public to reduce together to help process themselves, hold back first, don't waste a little bit and so on," he said.

The fire that started to burn since Saturday (19/8) and on Thursday (24/8) hit zone 4, zone 3, and zone 2, this Friday the fire has entered zone 1 and the fire area has reached 19 hectares.

Until now, the Sarimukti TPA is still being extinguished by various parties, starting from West Bandung, Bandung City, Bandung Regency, Cimahi City, Cianjur Regency, and also from other areas.