PLN says fire not from substations<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
State-owned electric company PLN rejected on Tuesday the
\naccusation that the Tanah Abang fire was caused by a short
\ncircuit in one of its four substations in the market, saying that
\nthe substations were protected by safety devices.<\/p>\n
Winayu Siswanto, Manager of PLN's Gambir Network Management
\nUnit, said the safety devices would stop the electricity supply
\nto the substations in the case of a short circuit.<\/p>\n
"The safety devices would have automatically shut down the
\nelectricity supply, if there was a short circuit in one of the
\nsubstations," he said.<\/p>\n
"When we received a report of the fire at 12:45 p.m., the
\nelectricity supply was still normal, but the supply was then shut
\ndown manually."<\/p>\n
If the fire was caused by a short circuit, there should have
\nbeen no electricity being supplied at the outset of the fire, he
\nadded.<\/p>\n
Winayu was speaking at a hearing with the City Council
\nCommission B, which oversees economic affairs.<\/p>\n
While it was believed that a short circuit had played a
\ncrucial role in the fire, the police have yet to complete their
\ninvestigation and uncover the cause of the fire.<\/p>\n
Emphasizing that the electricity supply was still normal 30
\nminutes after the fire had started, Winayu said that there was
\nonly a very slim chance that the fire had been caused by a short-
\ncircuiting substation.<\/p>\n
If the safety device had failed entirely, said Winayu, the
\nfour substations would have all exploded simultaneously.<\/p>\n
"The market technician, Sariman, reacted quickly by checking a
\nsubstation near him when the fire started, and shut it down by
\nremoving the fuses," said Winayu.<\/p>\n
"The fuses were still intact, indicating that a short circuit
\nhad not occurred. Sariman, however, failed to reach other
\nsubstations as smoke quickly engulfed the market".<\/p>\n
PLN technicians visited the scene of the fire to probe all
\npossibilities, but poor security hampered their efforts.<\/p>\n
"We can determine whether the fire was caused by a short
\ncircuit or the other way around. A fire can destroy the cable's
\ninsulation layers, causing a short circuit.<\/p>\n
"Scavengers, however, pillaged the fuses as well as cut all
\nthe cables after the fire, so we cannot deduce anything," he
\nadded.<\/p>\n
Separately, Tulus Abadi of the Indonesian Consumers Foundation
\n(YLKI) said that PLN could not make such a one-sided statement
\ndefending its own facilities without public involvement to back
\nup its claims.<\/p>\n
"PLN has to allow independent auditors and the police to
\nassess its substations in Tanah Abang Market as to whether or not
\nthey are in good conditions.<\/p>\n
"Public involvement is also important, as PLN's management
\nadmitted last year that 70 percent of its network was already in
\npoor condition."<\/p>\n
Tulus also said that a study showed electrical problems to
\nhave been involved in 85 percent of fire cases.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/pln-says-fire-not-from-substations-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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