Fire guts 5 houses in Utan Panjang

JAKARTA: Fire gutted five houses in Utan Panjang subdistrict, Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, on Sunday at around 8:40 a.m. No fatalities were reported in the fire, which was allegedly caused by a short circuit in one of the houses.

Three fire trucks were deployed to put out the fire in the densely populated subdistrict.

Head of Community Unit 6, Ahmad Sumaji, said that the residents had been briefed on how to extinguish fires in their neighborhood, especially after the increasing number of fire cases in the capital recently.

Utan Panjang subdistrict chief Arief Husaini said, as quoted by Kompas Cyber Media, that the subdistrict had provided fire extinguishers to each community unit and neighborhood unit in the area. A fire alarm was also installed in the subdistrict office that connects to the Central Jakarta Fire Department.

The subdistricts and the fire department have trained some residents for a Fire Volunteers Front. -- JP