Slum areas most prone to fires: Fire Department<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta fire department has recorded 437
\nfires over the last eight months with 80 percent of them
\noccurring in slum areas.<\/p>\n
Slum areas continue to be the areas most prone to fires in the
\ncapital, while at the same time often being the most difficult to
\nreach when fire breaks out.<\/p>\n
Johny Pangaribuan, deputy chief of the Jakarta fire
\ndepartment, told The Jakarta Post that most fires in slum areas
\nwere caused by short circuits due to faulty wiring resulting from
\nthe siphoning off of electricity by residents.<\/p>\n
He added that this was compounded by the fact that many
\nresidents in these areas still used oil lamps and kerosene
\nstoves, which only helped to accelerate the spread of fires.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, Johny also conceded that due to their
\neconomic difficulties, these people often had limited resources.<\/p>\n
\"They are more concerned about ways of providing for
\nthemselves than safety precautions,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Johny remarked that putting out fires in slum areas was
\ndifficult as such locations frequently could not be accessed by
\nfire engines.<\/p>\n
In addition, fire stations were often not promptly informed
\nwhen a fire occurred, he complained.<\/p>\n
\"When a fire breaks out people are usually in a great panic
\ntrying to save their belongings, and only call the fire
\ndepartment when the fire has spread further afield,\" he
\nexplained.<\/p>\n
The city's most fatal fire this year was in the slum area of
\nWest Pademangan in North Jakarta last weekend in which three
\npeople died.<\/p>\n
Another obstacle faced by the fire department was the lack of
\nadequate equipment and human resources.<\/p>\n
The city fire department had only some 2,600 personnel and 150
\nfire engines.<\/p>\n
When facing major fires, firemen were often impeded by the
\nlack of water hydrants, which were not widely distributed
\nthroughout the city.<\/p>\n
\"There's only about 1,000 water hydrants across Jakarta, and
\neven then not all of them function properly,\" Johny remarked.<\/p>\n
\"Unfortunately, in most slum areas, the very areas which are
\nmost prone to fires, there are often no hydrants,\" Johny said.<\/p>\n
Johny conceded that there were often complaints from members
\nof the public claiming that the fire department frequently
\narrived late at the scene.<\/p>\n
\"Even when we do get there, we only have enough water for
\nabout 10 minutes,\" he said, adding that a fire engine could only
\ncarry about 4,000 liters of water.<\/p>\n
\"When we run out of water, we must withdraw the trucks and
\nsearch for water from nearby rivers, for example,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The best recourse was, of course, to prevent fires from
\noccurring by raising the public's awareness of various fire
\nhazards.<\/p>\n
With this in mind the fire department was currently conducting
\na campaign in various subdistricts and community units in slum
\nareas to teach residents about ways to prevent and deal with
\nfires.<\/p>\n
Tips such as throwing a damp sack on a fire to extinguish it
\nand using standardized electrical appliances were also being
\ntaught.<\/p>\n
\"But everything depends on the people's mind set, which is
\nmore important,\" Johny remarked.<\/p>\n
But he also complained that even in many office buildings, not
\njust slum areas, fire safety was often ignored.<\/p>\n
\"Building managers are often careless in maintaining their
\nfire equipment. We often find this in our routine inspections,\"
\nhe said while suggesting that the building managers' reliance on
\ninsurance was another factor why the dangers of fire were often
\nneglected.(06)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/slum-areas-most-prone-to-fires-fire-department-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}