5,000 Tambora locals lose homes

JAKARTA: At least 370 houses on Petak Serani IV, Tanah Sereal subdistrict in Tambora district, West Jakarta, burned down in a fire on Saturday morning, forcing the evacuation of 5,000 residents.

No fatalities were reported in the fire, according to firemen Wahab of West Jakarta fire department.

The fire reportedly started at about 8:30 a.m. The fire department deployed 20 fire trucks to the scene and, with the assistance of locals, managed to extinguish the fire at 4 p.m.

The area is densely housed, which hampered firefighters' efforts to reach the location and made it difficult to isolate the fire.

According to locals, the fire started in the house of a noodle vendor, who had gone out and left his kerosene stove flaring. -- JP