Cianjur Fire Department Completes Handling Of Lahandi Bojongpicung And Tanggeung Fires

Six houses in Margaluyu Village, Tanggeung District, Cianjur Regency, West Java, were razed to the ground after being beaten by the red rooster allegedly from an electric short circuit.(ANTARA/Ahmad Fikri)

CIANJUR - The Cianjur Regency Fire Department, West Java, has completed the handling of two land fires due to cigarette butts that were dumped carelessly in Bojongpicung and Tanggeung sub-districts with a burned area of about 10 hectares.

Head of the Cianjur Fire Department, Hendra Wira Riharja, said the land fire that occurred at two points was almost simultaneously on Sunday night and was successfully extinguished Monday, September 4, early in the morning after four fire engines were dispatched to the location.

"The first point in Jatisari Village, Bojongpicung District, is that the fire is thought to have come from cigarette butts that were thrown away carelessly, so it burned 2 hectares of forest land and people's plantations," he said, quoted by ANTARA.

Officers had difficulty extinguishing because dry land was overgrown with wood of various sizes and flammable weeds plus strong winds, causing the blackout process to be carried out for more than six hours so that it did not spread to villages.

After an hour, the same thing happened in the southern region of Cianjur, precisely in Tanggeung District, about 8 hectares of forest land and plantations of residents that had not been planted since the arrival of the dry season caught fire, causing the fire to be suspected to be due to cigarette butts.

"We sent two fire engines from the Cianjur Fire Department with more than 10 personnel. Officers experienced many obstacles because the fire spread to the cliffs bordering the village," he said.

Until this morning, officers managed to extinguish the fire that almost spread to the residents' villages. His party noted that there were no casualties or houses reported in the two incidents.

"We ask residents not to burn garbage in open areas and not to throw cigarette butts carelessly during the dry season. Make sure the fire is extinguished when burning garbage, especially in the neighborhood," he said.

Meanwhile, the Head of Tanggeung Sub-district, Sofian Sauri, said that his party had intensified socialization for residents not to burn garbage in open is which was easy to spread and did not throw cigarette butts carelessly as an effort to anticipate land fires.

"Luckily, the 8 hectare land that caught fire was extinguished by two Cianjur fire engines, assisted by local residents so that it did not spread to the residents' villages which were quite crowded," he said.

The Tanggeung sub-district head explained that one day earlier, Saturday (2/9) six houses in Cipayung Village, Margaluyu Village, were almost leveled to the ground after being beaten by a red rooster allegedly due to a short circuit in electricity, there were no casualties but the loss was estimated at around Rp. 1 billion.