50 Sinar Jaya Buses Destroyed in Bekasi Fire, Cause Still Under Investigation

A large fire broke out at the Sinar Jaya bus depot on Jalan Jarakosta, Sukadanau Village, Cikarang Barat, Bekasi Regency, West Java, in the early hours of Tuesday (18/8). The incident resulted in 50 buses being completely burnt.

Bohir, commander of Platoon 3 of the Bekasi Regency Fire and Rescue Service, said the fire was first reported by a security guard.

“The first information came from the security guard, and we set off. When we spoke with the guard, he said that during his patrol he saw the fire was already large in the middle of the bus parking area,” he said, as quoted from detik.com.

The source of the fire remains unknown. However, according to the security guard’s account, the flames suddenly grew and engulfed the buses at the site.

“The buses that caught fire were those that were no longer in operation or not roadworthy,” Bohir said.

Bohir added that his team faced difficulties during the firefighting operation, including having to source water from Kalimalang. The operation lasted approximately five hours.

“We split the firefighting access into two directions because there is a residential area next to the depot. There is only a boundary fence, but the heat radiation was very intense,” he said.

“Residents were also panicking, so we divided our efforts into two directions for the firefighting. One inside the depot and one alongside the residential area. The main obstacle was that the water source was quite far away; we had to draw water from Kalimalang,” he continued.

Meanwhile, quoting from Antara, the fire affected an area of the bus depot covering 800 square metres. The large number of vehicles at the location caused the fire to spread rapidly and threaten other buses parked in the area.

The fire was eventually extinguished, although dozens of buses at the scene could not be saved. After the flames were put out, officers continued with a cooling process to ensure the fire did not reignite.

As of now, there has been no official report on the material losses suffered as a result of the incident.

Adeng Hudaya, head of the Bekasi Regency Fire and Rescue Service, said the cause of the fire is still under investigation by the police.

“There have been no reports of casualties in the incident. The value of the losses from the fire is still being assessed. The police are also still investigating the cause of this incident,” he said.