Fire razes 55 homes in Kemayoran

Fire razes 55 homes in Kemayoran

JAKARTA: At least 256 residents of Kemayoran in Central
Jakarta lost their homes after a massive fire engulfed 55 plywood
and brick houses on Jl. Kemayoran Barat I and Kemayoran Utara on
Sunday.

An eyewitness, Sopiah, 56, said that the fire started at 11:30
a.m. on the second floor of a house belong to one Muslimin.

The fire spread rapidly to other semipermanent homes in the
area owing to the strong wind, she said.

Other eyewitnesses blamed Edi, 8, Muslimin's mentally disabled
son, who was seen played with matches before the fire started.

"Three months ago, Edi set a bed on fire but people spotted it
quickly and the fire was put out before it spread," Supiah was
quoted as saying by Tempointeraktif.com.

Muslimin, however, said his son had nothing to do with the fire.

"He was watching television downstairs with my wife," he said,
while acknowledging that the fire began on the upper floor of
house.

Police from the Kemayoran police station said they suspected
the cause of the fire was a short circuit.

The city fire department deployed 30 fire trucks to extinguish
the blaze.-- JP