Day of fires leaves hundreds homeless

Apriadi Gunawan The Jakarta Post Medan, North Sumatra

A massive fire burned down 165 houses in the coastal area of Belawan here on Tuesday afternoon, leaving hundreds of people homeless.

No casualties were reported in the disaster.

Eyewitnesses said the fire started at 2 p.m. and strong winds helped it spread across the slum area, which was home to local fishermen. The blaze also engulfed around 50 houses in the nearby housing complex for Indonesian Navy personnel.

It took firefighters almost one-and-a-half hours to extinguish the blaze, even with a team of 11 fire trucks.

Local police have yet to determine the cause of the fire, but chief of Belawan police Comr. Hermawan Daka said he suspected that an electrical short in one of the houses might have sparked the fire.

"We are still questioning key witnesses, including the occupant of the house where the fire allegedly started," Hermawan told The Jakarta Post.

Police estimated the financial losses resulting from the fire at hundreds of millions of rupiah.

People who lost their homes have sought refuge in mosques and houses that were spared from the fire.

A man was apprehended by residents for alleged looting and handed him over to a local Army outpost, one of the residents said.

Later in the evening, another fire destroyed five-story shops along on Jl. Sekip in the provincial capital of Medan.

No casualties were reported, but losses inflicted by the incident reached billions of rupiah, as the stores sold expensive building materials and electrical equipment.

Firefighters apparently had difficulties dousing the fire because of the flammable materials in the shops.

One firefighter said he had to use sand to put out the fire.

Police are still investigating the cause of the fire.