Fire halts research on plant species

Fire halts research on plant species

BOGOR: The Bogor-based Research and Development Center of the
Ministry of Forestry has been forced to suspend research
following a fire in its laboratory on Thursday.

The fire destroyed a six-meter-by-12-meter room in the
building and its contents, including notes of ongoing research on
rare plant species.

"The material loss was not much, but from the academic point
of view, we suffered a lot," head of the center A. Angaloken
Ginting said, adding that research on a number of rare species
had to be suspended.

He said it was believed that the fire was caused by an oven
that exploded in the laboratory. The oven was used to treat wood
to eliminate its oil content.

The fire was put out by four fire engines. --JP