Firefighters on stand-by during APEC meeting
JAKARTA (JP): The City Fire Department has three fire engines and 60 firefighters on standby 24-hour-a-day at the Jakarta Hilton Convention Center during the current Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum meetings.
"We have deployed two fire engines and one hook and ladder truck to help combat any fires occurring at the conference venue," Tatang Sastrawiria, the fire department chief, told reporters yesterday.
The fire engines will be posted near reservoirs which can provide up to 15,000 liters of water for up to 30 minutes.
"My personnel are ready to guard the meeting venue," Tatang said, adding that his office has established 75 command posts throughout Jakarta to help safeguard the metropolis against blazes.
He explained that many high-rise buildings, mainly those built before 1980, have not yet been equipped with adequate fire protection facilities.
"The regulation on the fire protection system was introduced in 1992, while almost half of the 546 high-rise buildings were built before 1980," Tatang said.
He explained that based on the regulation, high-rise buildings must be equipped with a certain standard of fire protection systems, such as reservoirs, hydrants, fire alarms, smoke and heat and gas detectors.
"There is an idea of issuing a new regulation requiring hotel guests to fill in fire cards, which contain their identities so as to facilitate identification if a fire should gut the building they are staying in," he said.
Inspection
He said that his office inspects the high-rise capital's buildings once a year to check on the fire prevention equipment.
"But we have difficulties in conducting the inspection because we don't have enough personnel. Moreover, many building managers suspect that we are only seeking mistakes to try and extort money from them," Tatang said.
He said that because of such suspicions many building managers refuse to allow the inspection of their structures. "The inspection is actually free of charge, only occasionally are there certain costs they have to pay, and the amount is always small," Tatang added.
Tatang also said that from January to October this year there were 781 fires with a total loss at Rp 74 billion (about US$35.2 million), leaving two people dead and 33 others injured.
According to data the Police headquarters announced last month, only 196, or 45.9 percent, of the 427 fire cases recorded in the capital in the January-September period this year have been thoroughly resolved.
"Out of the resolved cases, only four were believed to have been cases of arson," National Police spokesman Brig. Gen.K. Ratta said.
According to Ratta, the main problem for members of the National Police Forensic Laboratory Center is gathering substantial material evidence at the scene of the blaze. (yns)