City to check fire safety systems in public buildings

City to check fire safety systems in public buildings

JAKARTA (JP): The city administration is planning to evaluate fire safety equipment installed in all public places and establishments in the city following Thursday's fire in Bogor that claimed 10 lives.

Governor Surjadi Soedirdja said over the weekend that he has instructed his subordinates to carry out the evaluation program as soon as possible.

His office will evaluate the fire safety systems in movie theaters, discotheques and markets throughout the city.

"The evaluation should be carried out to prevent the Bogor inferno from taking place in the capital city and we also plan to tighten the supervision of those buildings," Surjadi told reporters.

He added that it is important to review whether fire safety systems in public places are being used and maintained by building managers and owners.

Surjadi said the evaluation will include checking hydrants, emergency exits and training to use safety equipment.

He said his office will issue tighter regulations on fire safety systems in public buildings.

Last Thursday a fire razed the three-story Pasar Kebon Kembang market in Bogor killing 10 people, as officially announced on Saturday, and injuring at least 19 others. The fire was extinguished more than 30 hours later.

Initial media reports put the death toll as high as 76 before the store's management said the remains of 50 bodies were in fact mannequins.

Firefighters had difficulty in getting into the building because of its poor design. The nearby hydrants were reportedly dry which forced the firefighters to draw water far from the blaze.

Meanwhile, the head of city fire brigade, Suharso, said many public buildings in the city are prone to fire because their fire safety systems do not function adequately.

"Most of the systems have never been checked or have been used and then left in poor condition," he said.

For example, they don't have hydrants on each floor as well as outside the building, customers are not informed about the location of the emergency stairs and the water sprinklers do not function adequately.

Suharso said Provincial Decree No.3/1992 stipulates that all buildings in the city should have sufficient equipment to minimize the number of victims and prevent a fire from spreading further before fire brigade units arrive.

The equipment includes emergency stairs, hydrants and hose reels that should be installed on each floor, sprinklers and fire alarms.

Suharso said the hydrants on each floor should be able to be used for half an hour. There should be one hose reel and one hydrant in every 30 square meter area.

However Suharso gave assurances that the vast majority of buildings in the city built after 1992 are equipped with excellent fire safety systems because his office is involved in implementing the decrees.

"The fire brigade is also active in checking all fire safety systems before the city development supervision agency issues a building use permit," he said.

"The fire brigade checks up the system once a year and until now all of them have obeyed the regulation," he said.

The city's fire department employs 2,620 people and has 157 fire engines. (yns)