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🇮🇩 Indonesia /Disasters & Emergencies

Fire engulfs a mountain of waste at Solo’s Putri Cempo landfill

From Republika · () Indonesian

Translated from Indonesian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

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  • A fire spread through piles of waste at the Putri Cempo landfill in Solo, Central Java, on Sept. 2, 2026.
  • Firefighters and the Solo disaster agency worked to prevent the blaze from reaching other parts of the 17-hectare site and to limit smoke impacts on nearby areas.
  • Officials had not determined the cause, although the city’s environmental agency chief said the fire may have started in the waste and spread in strong winds.

The sky above Putri Cempo landfill in Mojosongo, Solo, lit up as flames tore through towering piles of waste on Wednesday, Sept. 2. Strong winds helped the fire spread across the site.

Firefighters and the Solo municipal disaster management agency worked through the day and into the night to contain the blaze. Their effort focused on stopping the flames from reaching other parts of the landfill and reducing the effect of smoke on surrounding areas.

Fires in waste piles take longer to extinguish because flames can move into the interior of the accumulated rubbish. Hot spots may therefore reappear even after the visible fire has been put out, a problem seen during earlier fires at Putri Cempo.

The landfill covers about 17 hectares and has operated since the 1980s. It serves both as a waste-management site and as a facility that processes waste into energy. By Wednesday, officials had not established the cause of the fire. The head of Surakarta’s Environmental Agency said it was suspected to have started in the waste before spreading in the strong wind.

About this summary

Originally published by Republika in Indonesian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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