Fires destroy two shops and a house

JAKARTA (JP): Electrical short circuits were believed to be the cause of two fires which destroyed two shops in South Jakarta and a luxurious house in Central Jakarta yesterday. No fatalities were reported.

The first fire started 1 a.m and destroyed a photo laboratory and an electronics shop on Jl. RS. Fatmawati, Cilandak, causing hundreds of millions of rupiah in material losses.

A police sergeant at the South Jakarta Police precinct said the fire started in the SS photo laboratory and camera shop and spread to an electronics shop.

"An electrical short circuit in the laboratory probably caused the fire," the sergeant said.

Dozens of pocket cameras which were displayed in the shop and a photo printing machine could not be salvaged as the door of the shop was locked, he said.

He said, Isman, a security guard in the shopping area, was the first person who saw smoke billowing from the photo laboratory.

Isman shouted for help when the fire spread to the electronics shop next door, he said.

The fire also destroyed dozens of electronic goods, including televisions, tape recorders, refrigerators and air conditioners, he said.

The South Jakarta Fire Brigade deployed nine fire engines and extinguished the fire at 4:30 a.m.

Another fire destroyed a house on Jl. Cempaka Putih Barat, Central Jakarta.

A police officer at the Central Jakarta Police precinct said the fire started at 10:30 a.m. and gutted an empty house owned by a businessman, Finaldi Hasman.

He said five fire engines extinguished the fire in an hour.

"The losses have yet to be calculated," the officer said.

The police questioned Sumardi, a houseboy at a house next to the ravaged house because he was the first person who saw the fire, the officer said. (jun)