Fire hits Indomaret, Melawai hotel

Fire hits Indomaret, Melawai hotel

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Although the Jakarta administration has called on building owners
to install the required fire safety systems on their premises,
fires continued unabated in the capital, with the two most recent
fires at a mini market and a hotel.

Fire razed the Indomaret mini market on Jl. Raya Kebayoran
Lama, Kebon Jeruk district, West Jakarta, at about 6:50 a.m. on
Monday, and swiftly spread to a Toyota car shop next door.

No fatalities were reported in the incident, and the Kebon
Jeruk police were still investigating the cause of the fire and
the losses incurred.

At least 20 fire trucks and their support vehicles arrived
later, but it was too late to save either of the small
businesses.

Separately, on Sunday night, a store room on the seventh floor
of the Melawai Hotel in South Jakarta caught fire.

Security guard, Rupinsi, 43, called for help after seeing
thick smoke coming from the room.

Fifteen fire trucks were dispatched and managed to control the
blaze before it could spread to any other rooms or floors. There
were not reports of casualties.

Jakarta Police officials said they were still investigating
the cause of that fire too, but they suspected an electrical
short circuit.

Over the last few months, a slew of large fires have destroyed
a number of residential areas, mostly slums, leaving thousands of
people homeless. In this year alone, 11 people have been killed
in 364 fires that caused billions of rupiah in material losses.
The most recent were the fires in Kebon Melati and Sawah Besar,
both in Central Jakarta.