Fire department appeals for equipment, personnel<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): With the risk of fires ever increasing, the city
\nfire department is proposing an increment to fire fighting
\nequipment and personnel.<\/p>\n
\"We have only 7 percent of an ideal of 10,000 fire hydrants
\nthroughout the city,\" head of the city fire department, Suharso,
\ntold reporters on the sidelines of a ceremony marking the
\nestablishment of a Rapid Firefighters Unit at City Hall.<\/p>\n
\"Currently, there are 706 fire hydrants throughout the city.
\nWe also only have 92 out of 265 required water reservoirs,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Suharso said his department had, therefore, tried to handle
\nfires in the city, especially in densely populated areas, with
\nits limited resources.<\/p>\n
\"The city has 192 fire trucks of various types and sizes, but
\nonly 113 of them are in good condition,\" he said, while adding
\nthat the city needed an additional 211 fire trucks.<\/p>\n
He said his firefighters often tried to draw water from nearby
\nrivers or lakes when there were no hydrants near the fire scenes.<\/p>\n
He, however, hinted that it was currently difficult to get
\nwater as each of the city's fire trucks only had an eight-meter
\nhose to drain water, while some rivers had already dried up.<\/p>\n
Above all, he said, his department would also need additional
\npersonnel to deal with the increasing fire threats in the city.<\/p>\n
\"Currently, there are 2,449 firefighters in the city. We're
\nthinking of increasing the number to 6,459 by 2008,\" Suharso
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He said the city fire department also needed an additional 56
\nfire stations, as presently there were just 83 stations. \"While
\nthe city has only 2 out of 20 big regional stations needed.\"<\/p>\n
Suharso said the city fire department recorded an average loss
\nof Rp 109 billion (US$15 million) in each year of the previous
\nfive years.<\/p>\n
\"There were 990 fire cases last year with a combined loss of
\nmore than Rp 100 billion,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said his office had recorded 675 fires as of Dec. 2, with a
\ntotal loss of Rp 47 billion.<\/p>\n
Rapid unit<\/p>\n
Suharso said that the city was now in bad need of a rapid
\nfirefighter unit to deal with fires in densely populated areas.<\/p>\n
\"Ideally, there should be a rapid firefighter unit in each of
\nJakarta's 256 subdistricts to give a better service to the
\nresidents,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Each rapid firefighter unit would comprise of eight
\nfirefighters riding on four motorcycles. The team would be
\nequipped with portable fire extinguishers and rescue equipment.<\/p>\n
Suharso admitted that his fire department was considerably the
\nslowest department in Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n
\"We are still unable to break our time limit of nine minutes
\nto reach any fire spots. The limit in Singapore is seven minutes,
\nwhile in Hong Kong it is six minutes,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He, however, also blamed the city residents for obstructing
\nthe firefighters' movements, causing them delays in getting to
\nthe scenes.<\/p>\n
\"Sometimes the crowd of residents block the fire trucks from
\napproaching the scene. Often, they insist that their houses be
\ngiven fire prevention priority,\" he said. (05)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/fire-department-appeals-for-equipment-personnel-1447893297",
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