"Water Bombing" Starts Putting Out The Jatibarang TPA Fire

The process of extinguishing the fire at the Jatibarang Final Disposal Site (TPA) was carried out by "water bombing" via helicopter, Tuesday (10/10/2023). (ANTARA/Zuhdiar Laeis)

The process of extinguishing the fire at the Jatibarang Final Disposal Site (TPA) Semarang with the help of "water bombing" or the onslaught of water bombs from the air using helicopters began.

Semarang Mayor Hevearita Gunaryanti Rahayu said handling the Jatibarang TPA fire requires more effort and effort to extinguish the scattered hotspots.

"The first sort of 'take off' from Lanumad Ahmad Yani has had seven waterings. However, from seven times the results have been significant," said Ita, Hevearita's nickname, quoted by ANTARA, Tuesday, October 10.

According to him, the hotspots at the Jatibarang TPA began to be extinguished and the smoke that arised from the fire had also begun to disappear along with the ongoing extinguishing efforts.

To support extinguishing by air, he also asked for additional injection pipes to inject water directly into piles of garbage so that they could complete the hotspots.

He asked the Head of the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) and the Semarang City Fire Department to coordinate with PDAM to increase the planting of injection pipes in piles of garbage.

"The head of BPBD has seen it with 'thermal drones' and is still red, so I asked to coordinate with PDAM to build a three-meter 'injection' pipe to make it faster," he said.

Later, he said, the firefighters could ask how many injection pipes were needed in the park so that they could support the fire fighting at the Jatibarang TPA after being doused with "water bombing".

Meanwhile, the addition of water tankers to supply fire fighting fleets is still being pursued by Ita by asking for assistance from relevant policy makers, such as industry and SOEs.

"It must be added immediately so that extinguishing efforts can be accelerated. I also borrowed a tanker from KIW (Wijayakusuma Industrial Estate), BSB (New Semarang Hill), Sango," he said.

The fire has started at least four times at the Jatibarang TPA since September 2023, starting on Monday (18/9) which lasted more than a week, and is assisted by "water bombing".

The fourth fire at the Jatibarang TPA with greater intensity occurred last Friday (6/10), and this time it also involved "water bombing" assistance to complete the blackout.