Location Hard To Reach, Cianjur BPBD Handles 17 Hectare Land Fires In The Mount Gombong Area Via Manual

Joint officers assisted by residents of Cibeber District, Cianjur Regency, West Java, tried to extinguish the fire that burned 17 hectares of land. (ANTARA/Ahmad Fikri).

The Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of Cianjur Regency, West Java, has completed handling a 17-hectare land fire allegedly due to cigarette butts being dumped carelessly in Cibeber District, for two days since last Friday. Asep Sukma Wijaya, Head of BPBD Cianjur, said that the land fire that occurred in the Mount Gombong area, Peuteucondong Village, Cibeber District, was successfully extinguished by a joint team manually because the location was difficult to reach. "Officers and a joint team consist of the TNI/Polri, Cianjur firefighters, volunteers and local residents, use makeshift tools to extinguish the fire because fire engines cannot reach the location," he said in Cianjur, Antara, Sunday, September 24. His party noted that in different locations there have been three land fires that were suspected to have been caused by cigarette butts being thrown away carelessly so that sparks of fire burned the desert that dried up. "The cooling was carried out using a back pump carried by joint officers, a ban on not burning and throwing cigarette butts carelessly in a nearby village with a hilly location where most of the grass dried up," he said. Peuteuycondong Village Head, M Ukasah Condre, said that it was suspected that the fire that burned 17 hectares of land at the top of Mount Gombong was caused by cigarette butts being thrown away carelessly. This incident has occurred three times over the past week. The fire was first reported by residents to be seen above the mountain on Tuesday, September 19 and was successfully extinguished. Still at the same time, another fire broke out but shifted below the foot of the mountain. Meanwhile, on Friday, September 22, the fire was again visible and successfully extinguished after two days of blazing. "The third hotspot is about three kilometers from the first hotspot, the hotspots are visible on the sleeping ground on the top of the mountain, the border of Peuteuycondong Village, Cibeber District with Sukamulya Village, Warungkondang District,” he said.

The fire, which had spread over an area of 17 hectares, was confirmed to have been completely extinguished after the joint officers cooled until Sunday morning.