Fires raze houses and auditorium

JAKARTA (JP): Two fires destroyed 11 houses and an auditorium of the state-owned telecommunications company PT Telkom at separate sites in Central Jakarta Saturday. No fatalities were reported.

A police officer at the Central Jakarta precinct said the first fire started at 6:30 a.m and destroyed 11 houses on Jl. Kramat Jaya Baru, in Johar Baru.

"The fire was caused by an electrical short circuit in the house belonging to Suhadi," he said.

Suhadi was quoted by the officer as saying that he was sitting in the living room when the fire started in the roof.

He shouted for help, but the fire had spread throughout the building before the neighbors arrived to help. The fire spread and gutted the other houses very quickly.

A firefighter said that like many kampongs in Jakarta, Johar Baru was so dense with houses it was difficult for firefighters to get to the fire.

He said the fire brigades, with 15 fire engines, put out the fire within three hours.

The officer said the fire caused an estimated Rp 125 million (US$52,083) in material losses.

Almost at the same time, a fire gutted an auditorium of PT Telkom on Jl. Merdeka Selatan, in Gambir.

The officer said the fire started at about 7 a.m. and destroyed 300 chairs and eight air conditioners in the auditorium.

He said the company's security guard, Fahadi, first noticed the fire. He called the Central Jakarta Fire Brigade when he saw smoke billowing from the auditorium, he said. "The fire was probably caused by an electrical short circuit."

Eight fire trucks were deployed and extinguished the fire within an hour.

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

This is the second fire last week. The first fire hit a plastic and paper recycling warehouse in Cengkareng, West Jakarta Wednesday.

The fire also destroyed 13 houses, leaving 114 homeless. The fire might have been started by a chemical reaction in the pile of waste. No fatalities were reported. (jun)