Furniture Factory in Sewon Bantul Burns for Fifth Time

A wooden furniture factory in Blunyahan, Pendowoharjo, Sewon, Bantul caught fire in the early morning hours. Losses reached tens of millions of rupiah, with the fire suspected to have been caused by flames spreading from wood stored near the oven.

Kristanto Kurniawan, the head of fire and disaster management at Bantul’s Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), explained that the incident began when a factory security guard conducted a routine inspection around 02:00 WIB. Finding the factory in safe condition, he returned to his post.

“Within minutes, residents called out to the security guard that there was a fire in the wooden oven of the furniture factory,” he told detikJogja on Friday (13 March 2026).

Upon being alerted to the fire, the security guard and several factory workers attempted to extinguish the flames using available equipment. However, the fire continued to spread.

“Because they couldn’t put it out, one of the workers called the fire service,” he said.

Around 03:00 WIB, four fire trucks arrived at the scene. Firefighters immediately began extinguishing the fire.

“The fire was successfully extinguished at 05:40 WIB,” he said.

Regarding casualties, Kristanto stated there were none. According to him, the fire only resulted in material losses.

“Material losses are approximately 30 million rupiah because the oven room measuring 6x4 metres caught fire. Additionally, there were cutting boards and chairs from production that burned,” he said.

Regarding the cause of the fire, Kristanto said it was because the flames in the oven grew larger. On the other hand, near the oven was a storage warehouse for produced goods.

“The fire was caused by wood in the oven being too close to the chimney, so the wood caught fire and the flames grew larger and then spread to the warehouse,” he said.

Kristanto added that this was not the first fire at the furniture factory. According to him, the factory also experienced a fire last year.

“That place also burned last year; according to our fire data, it occurred in October 2025,” he said.

Police Public Information Officer at Bantul Police Resort, First Sergeant Rita Hidayanto, said the incident began when residents were chatting west of the warehouse at 03:30 WIB. During their conversation, residents noticed smoke billowing from the warehouse.

“After checking, it turned out the furniture production warehouse was on fire,” she explained.

Repeated Fire Incidents

Kristanto Kurniawan added that the furniture factory has caught fire multiple times. This is the fifth incident.

“According to our data, that location has burned five times, and as far as I remember, it was in October 2025 and the last time this morning,” he said.

Kristanto also revealed that the fire and disaster management agency has conducted inspections at the facility. It turns out the location is used to dry wood in an oven for rapid drying.

“That place is specifically for drying wood in an oven, and it only operates when there are orders,” he said.

Additionally, based on available data, the reason for the frequent fires at that location is human negligence. Workers sometimes abandon the oven while it is operating.

“The frequent fires are caused by human negligence, where the oven overheats. Because of overheating, the fire becomes larger and spreads,” he said.