Fire engulfs 300 Manggarai houses, victims vent anger at fire trucks

Fire engulfs 300 Manggarai houses, victims vent anger at fire trucks

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

An ongoing fire on Jl. Manggarai Utara II, South Jakarta, has
razed some 300 homes since Thursday afternoon, leaving
thousands homeless, but no fatalities as yet.

The fire started at around 4 p.m., when a stove belonging to a
resident at neighborhood unit (RT) 11 exploded, and the ensuing
fire soon spread to 15 neighborhood units nearby. A bakery was
also gutted by the blaze.

The area is located on the Ciliwung riverbank near the
railroad tracks and the Manggarai bus terminal.

Twenty-four fire trucks were seen at the location, but as of
late in the evening, had not yet managed to put the fire out.

The residents assaulted the driver and crew of the first fire
truck that arrived on the location almost two hours after the
fire started, as they complained that the firefighters were too
slow in their response.

The angry victims even commandeered a fire truck, but alas,
they only managed to drive it into one of the burning houses,
which resulted in a violent melee with local police who tried to
restore order.

Some of them even said the water used to extinguish the fire
smelled of gasoline, which is flammable. "We suspect arson,
because the plan to widen the Ciliwung river had been started
earlier this year," Budi, a resident of RT 11, told The Jakarta
Post.

Fireman Sunaryo said not all of the fire trucks could reach
the location because the road was too narrow and already crowded
with the residents.

"Moreover, although we have an abundant source of water from
the river, it is too polluted, so it takes long to filter it," he
told the Post.