Fire department appeals for equipment, personnel

Fire department appeals for equipment, personnel

JAKARTA (JP): With the risk of fires ever increasing, the city
fire department is proposing an increment to fire fighting
equipment and personnel.

"We have only 7 percent of an ideal of 10,000 fire hydrants
throughout the city," head of the city fire department, Suharso,
told reporters on the sidelines of a ceremony marking the
establishment of a Rapid Firefighters Unit at City Hall.

"Currently, there are 706 fire hydrants throughout the city.
We also only have 92 out of 265 required water reservoirs," he
said.

Suharso said his department had, therefore, tried to handle
fires in the city, especially in densely populated areas, with
its limited resources.

"The city has 192 fire trucks of various types and sizes, but
only 113 of them are in good condition," he said, while adding
that the city needed an additional 211 fire trucks.

He said his firefighters often tried to draw water from nearby
rivers or lakes when there were no hydrants near the fire scenes.

He, however, hinted that it was currently difficult to get
water as each of the city's fire trucks only had an eight-meter
hose to drain water, while some rivers had already dried up.

Above all, he said, his department would also need additional
personnel to deal with the increasing fire threats in the city.

"Currently, there are 2,449 firefighters in the city. We're
thinking of increasing the number to 6,459 by 2008," Suharso
said.

He said the city fire department also needed an additional 56
fire stations, as presently there were just 83 stations. "While
the city has only 2 out of 20 big regional stations needed."

Suharso said the city fire department recorded an average loss
of Rp 109 billion (US$15 million) in each year of the previous
five years.

"There were 990 fire cases last year with a combined loss of
more than Rp 100 billion," he said.

He said his office had recorded 675 fires as of Dec. 2, with a
total loss of Rp 47 billion.

Rapid unit

Suharso said that the city was now in bad need of a rapid
firefighter unit to deal with fires in densely populated areas.

"Ideally, there should be a rapid firefighter unit in each of
Jakarta's 256 subdistricts to give a better service to the
residents," he said.

Each rapid firefighter unit would comprise of eight
firefighters riding on four motorcycles. The team would be
equipped with portable fire extinguishers and rescue equipment.

Suharso admitted that his fire department was considerably the
slowest department in Southeast Asia.

"We are still unable to break our time limit of nine minutes
to reach any fire spots. The limit in Singapore is seven minutes,
while in Hong Kong it is six minutes," he said.

He, however, also blamed the city residents for obstructing
the firefighters' movements, causing them delays in getting to
the scenes.

"Sometimes the crowd of residents block the fire trucks from
approaching the scene. Often, they insist that their houses be
given fire prevention priority," he said. (05)