Over 2,000 homeless as fire hits Sawah Besar<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A fire which destroyed more than 100 houses in
\nSawah Besar district, Central Jakarta, yesterday, left 330
\nfamilies, or more than 2,000 people, homeless.<\/p>\n
Residents of Jl. F Karang Anyar, in Karang Anyar subdistrict,
\nquarreled with firefighters, who arrived late on the scene, and
\ngrabbed water hoses from them. They tried to extinguish the fire,
\nwhich started at about 9 a.m., by themselves.<\/p>\n
According to fire victims, the fire engines came half an hour
\nafter the fire was reported, but firefighters claimed they
\narrived in only eight minutes.<\/p>\n
Central Jakarta Fire Department head Freddy Aling said
\nfirefighters arrived a bit late because they had difficulties
\nreaching the location due to limited access.<\/p>\n
The residents managed the hoses for a while before they were
\ntaken over by firefighters again.<\/p>\n
Before firefighters arrived on the scene, the residents used
\nany available means to extinguish the fire.<\/p>\n
A resident fainted after he fell from a roof when he tried to
\nhelp extinguish the fire.<\/p>\n
"I used two fire extinguishers, but I couldn't put out the
\nfire at my house," a resident said.<\/p>\n
Freddy said strong winds also allowed the fire to spread
\nquickly to other houses.<\/p>\n
Lack of access to water was another obstacle for firefighters
\nextinguishing the fire, which did not claim any lives, he added.<\/p>\n
The hoses manhandled by residents also made it difficult for
\nfirefighters to extinguish the fire quickly, Freddy said.<\/p>\n
He called on people to be patient at fires scenes and let
\nfirefighters do their job of putting fires out.<\/p>\n
He said 22 fire engines were deployed and managed to control
\nthe fire by 11:30 a.m.<\/p>\n
Freddy said the cause of the fire was still being
\ninvestigated, but it was suspected a kerosene stove explosion
\nmight have been the cause.<\/p>\n
Residents believed the fire originated from a house owned by a
\nman identified as Asep.<\/p>\n
Some other residents said that they believed Asep deliberately
\nburned down his house.<\/p>\n
"This was the fourth fire at Asep's house and the biggest fire
\nin the past five years," Yulianto, a resident, said.<\/p>\n
Last year, a mattress in Asep's house was burned, but the fire
\nwas immediately put out, he said.<\/p>\n
"Asep hasn't shown up. He's probably hiding for fear that
\nresidents might mob him," another resident said.<\/p>\n
There was a rumor that a low-cost apartment would be built in
\nthe area, residents said.<\/p>\n
Dozens of residents were later sheltered at nearby Karang
\nAnyar subdistrict office.<\/p>\n
Residents asked the government to allow them to rebuild their
\nhouses, since there was nowhere else to stay.<\/p>\n
On April 3, 100 houses in nearby Kartini subdistrict, also in
\nSawah Besar, were destroyed by fire.<\/p>\n
A quarrel between firefighters and residents also took place,
\nwhere the fire raged for nearly three hours before it was
\nextinguished. (jun)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/over-2000-homeless-as-fire-hits-sawah-besar-1447893297",
"image": ""
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