Fire department focuses on equipment maintenance

Fire department focuses on equipment maintenance

JAKARTA (JP): The city fire department is concentrating on the
maintenance of existing fire equipment in anticipation of the
possibility of a rising number of fires started during the course
of riots ahead of the general election in June, an official said.

Suharso, head of the department, said on Tuesday that paying
special attention to equipment maintenance was all the department
could do at the moment.

"Realizing that possibly we will face more problems in the
future, beginning this month we will organize routine training
courses on equipment maintenance," he said.

In the past, there have been frequent complaints about a lack
of fire fighting equipment. However, because the city
administration is short of funds, it will not allocate funds for
the purchase of new fire fighting equipment for at least two
years.

Data from the city fire department shows that the department
only operates 106 fire engines, far below the ideal number of
265.

Because of the lack of funds and equipment, Suharso urged his
subordinates to work as efficiently and effectively as possible.

"When a fire occurs, for instance, firefighters should be
aware that it is dangerous to extinguish the fire from a very
close range because certain equipment does not function well and
their safety could be threatened," he said.

"We also have to rely heavily on other parties, such as
security personnel," he said.

Based on past experiences, firefighters have to be escorted by
security officers in order to prevent people from blocking their
access to fires, he said without elaborating.

"There is a big possibility that this will occur in the
future," he said.

"Our job has also been hindered by the city's poor block
planning and the people's lack of awareness of the need to equip
their houses and buildings with proper fire safety equipment," he
said.

He said that it was not usual for certain areas of the city to
have narrow streets which fire engines could not access, to be
short of water sources and not to have an adequate number of fire
hydrants.

The owners of high-rise buildings also have been accused in
the past of emphasizing business considerations over fire safety.

The head of the fire department's program development, Eki
Keristiawan, said that collusion sometimes occurred in the
process of granting building permits, meaning the construction of
many high-rise buildings went ahead despite poor fire safety
planning.

"To get the building permits, certain parties sometime
'bypass' procedures without receiving approval from the fire
department," he said. (ind)