Fire destroys two grocery stalls and a house in East Jakarta

Jakarta (ANTARA) - A fire destroyed two grocery stalls and a resident’s house on Jalan Laut Benda, Duren Sawit, East Jakarta, in the early hours of Wednesday. “I was sleeping, heard shouts of fire, then I immediately woke up and woke my husband too, because I heard a sound,” said Badriah, a victim and owner of one of the stalls, on Wednesday. The large blaze caused panic among residents, who rushed out of their homes to save themselves and assist with the evacuation. According to Badriah, the fire spread quickly and was difficult to control because the stall contained many flammable materials, in addition to retail petrol being sold at one of the grocery stalls. “We then immediately tried to extinguish the fire using makeshift tools while waiting for the fire brigade,” Badriah said. The East Jakarta Fire and Rescue Service (Sudin Gulkarmat), upon receiving the fire report, immediately dispatched personnel and vehicles to the scene. Based on preliminary accounts from the victim, the fire is suspected to have originated from an electrical short circuit in one of the grocery stalls adjacent to the building. Meanwhile, Abdul Wahid, Head of Operations at the East Jakarta Sudin Gulkarmat, stated that eight families, totalling 18 people, survived the incident. “The loss is estimated at around Rp200 million. The cause is suspected to be an electrical short circuit,” Abdul said. He revealed that his department deployed approximately 14 fire engines to the location, with a total of 70 personnel. The firefighting operation began at around 3:44 a.m. Western Indonesian Time and was completed by 5:32 a.m. “There were no injuries or fatalities in this incident,” Abdul stated.