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.