Binus Anggrek Fire: Firefighters Struggle to Locate the Fire Source

The West Jakarta Fire and Rescue Sub-Department (Gulkarmat) faced difficulties extinguishing a fire at the Bina Nusantara (Binus) Anggrek campus in Kemanggisan, Palmerah, West Jakarta, on Friday morning (22 May 2026). The main obstacle was thick smoke that filled the origin point of the fire, located in the auditorium on the fifth floor.

Head of Operations for Sudin Gulkarmat Jakarta Barat, Syaiful Kahfi, said the density of the smoke severely limited visibility and made breathing difficult when they first arrived.

‘When we arrived, the conditions on the fifth floor were that the smoke was already full, thick. So we had to enter using breathing apparatus before we could extinguish and search for the fire points,’ Syaiful told Kompas.com at the scene on Friday.

Officers needed time to scour the rooms and vent the smoke before they could extinguish the fire points.

‘The fire points were somewhat difficult to locate because they were shrouded in smoke, like that,’ he added.

To speed up the removal of thick smoke trapped inside the building, field personnel deployed one fire engine equipped with a large fan device specifically for smoke extraction. The vehicle was parked in the campus building’s parking area, alongside other water-towing vehicles.

After the fire point inside the auditorium was located, the team immediately proceeded to extinguish until it was localised at 08:00 WIB.

At present, the main blaze has been confirmed extinguished and operations have shifted to dismantling remaining materials of the fire.

‘The situation is now heading towards overhaul. We have combed through everything burnt in the auditorium. We have checked everything. Cooling has passed, only overhaul remains, with a few small embers still to be extinguished,’ Syaiful explained.

To ensure there are no further points of flame that could rekindle, fire personnel must dismantle the soundproofing material glass wool attached to the auditorium.

‘The condition is nearing safety. The glass wool has been removed and looked at all the way to the corridor; there are no large fire points. There may still be some small embers,’ he added.