Authorities to build more fire stations
JAKARTA (JP): The city administration plans to build more fire stations across the capital to prevent an increase in fires, a city official said on Tuesday.
Head of the City Fire Agency Suharso said that the more fire stations built, the faster firefighters could reach a blaze and extinguish it.
"We hope to reach a location within nine minutes so that we can quickly assist residents extinguish a fire," said Suharso, as quoted by Antara.
He was speaking ahead of the agency's 82nd anniversary, which falls on Thursday.
There are currently 83 fire stations across the capital, far below the minimum requirement of a fire station in each subdistrict. Jakarta has 265 subdistricts.
The City Fire Agency, established on March 1, 1919, by the Dutch colonial administration, currently employs 1,600 firefighters and has a total of 178 fire engines equipped with 200-meter-long water hoses.
Each fire engine has a 4,000 liter water capacity, needing 10 to 15 minutes to fill its water tank.
Data at the agency showed there were 791 fires in the capital last year, causing Rp 84.3 billion (about US$8.51 million) in damages.
There were 36 deaths from the 7,388 people affected by fires and 71 injuries.
Half of the fire outbreaks were triggered by short circuits, mostly occurring in residential complexes and commercial buildings.
"The fires were mostly caused through negligence, for example by residents being careless with flammable items, such as smoldering cigarette butts and stoves," said Suharso.
He urged residents not to steal electricity and follow proper safety procedures when installing electrical appliances.
Suharso added that inspections conducted by his office revealed that many residents had illegally connected their power lines to nearby electricity poles, unbeknownst to state electricity company (PLN).
Thirty percent of fire cases were caused by other conditions, such as feuds between residents, which often occurred in densely populated areas like Matraman in East Jakarta.
"Fire outbreaks sparked by a community brawl have become a trend in the capital lately," said Suharso.
During a mass brawl in Matraman, mobs burned down one house and the front section of the Lautan Berlian Bank office on Jl. Matraman Raya in July last year.
The mobs, involving hundreds of people from Berlan subdistrict, threw smoke bombs at rival Palmeriam residents, with explosions heard in Berlan subdistrict.
One of the biggest fires recorded by the city gutted dozens of houses in a densely populated area in Bukit Duri subdistrict, South Jakarta, on Dec. 2 last year, leaving some 86 families homeless. (07)